Newsletter ep. 106: can the PTO buy Ironman?

Sara and I will be back with a new podcast this Friday, and I think there are some things happening with Outspoken and with upcoming Kona coverage. All very exciting. Get excited. See the photo of our Ironwomen interview of Lucy Charles at Kona? This year, there’ll be more stuff.

We’re back because things are back to normal. Kinda. For now. Back to training for the last few things of the year, trying to will the body to hold it together and get fit again just in time. All you need is four weeks, right?

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Who are the PTO? Can they *really* buy Ironman?

The answer to the second question is probably not, but it would be awesome if they pull it off. And why is because of the answer to the first question.

The PTO is the Pro Triathletes Organisation (formerly the Pro Triathletes Union). And yes, it’s spelled that way. It’s British. 

Since inception, the PTO has worked some behind the scenes to get pros organized and demand better working conditions. All good ideas. There are some big name pros backing it. Good stuff. It hasn’t been able to change a lot and has struggled to get everyone on board. Not great. They’ve announced the Collins Cup. Also a good idea. But they’ve had to delay the event two years in a row. Which is a bummer. (Though whoever runs the Collins Cup Twitter account isn’t afraid to throw bombs, so at least that’s something.) 

Now the PTO has published a public letter offering to enter into negotiations to buy Ironman from the Wanda Group.

In all the discussions of this “offer,” the new CEO of the PTO, who was also announced on Monday, has talked a lot about the amount of debt Ironman is currently carrying. He’s also talked about how private owners, private equity, and venture capital have not been good for the customers — ie. us. He’s talked about how pros and the sport are being gutted and how now is a good opportunity to buy up Ironman assets cheap after the shit IPO. He’s not wrong.

The problem, obviously, is all these ideas can be good ideas. All these points can be good points. Everything the PTO is saying and doing can be correct. And it still doesn’t mean they can buy Ironman.

Look, I’ve never bought a company, so maybe I’m wrong, but my understanding is when deals are real they happen behind the scenes. Most real negotiations don’t happen in public letters. Public announcements come *after* the negotiations. I know it’s different for a public company v. private, but still. We don’t know yet what the details are of what the PTO is offering Wanda, where their funding is coming from, how they would get rid of the debt besides a leverage buyout. There’s a lot we don’t know. Maybe they know the answers to these questions. Hopefully. Because that’d be cool. Or maybe there are no answers yet. We’ll have to wait and see. That’s my super sophisticated analysis.

World champs to watch

Even though the ITU Grand Finale and the 70.3 World Champs are done and we’re not yet to Kona, there are still two world championships you can watch this week. The UCI Cycling World Championships have already started and there was even a mixed team relay, which the U.S. didn’t send a team too. Here’s how to watch.

I gotta admit, though, I’m way way more excited generally about watching running than cycling. And this weekend the Track & Field World Championships start in Doha, Qatar. Yes, I know, it’s going to be hot and weird and the marathon starts at midnight or something and the races are in an air-conditioned stadium. I’m still excited. Fast Women has a good summary of the story lines and who to look out for. And here’s the TV schedule.

One note: a few women will not be there because they refused to take the newly required testosterone tests. I still don’t know, and maybe someone can clarify this for me, if *everyone* has to take the tests or only people who come under suspicion.

Open injuries

Colleen Quigley, the steeplechaser, still isn’t sure if she’ll be able to race at those world champs this Friday because of an ongoing injury. She posted a few weeks ago about how important it is to be open about injuries. But here’s my question: How open should you be?

Mirinda Carfrae also posted this week that she had a small tumble and fractured her hand and hasn’t been able to swim since then. (My understanding is she simply tripped and fell while running at Santa Cruz.) Tim O’Donnell also appears to have been struggling with injuries through the same time, but hasn’t outright said as much about it.

I don’t think pros always hide injuries for nefarious reasons. Sure, sometimes they’re worried about how they’ll be perceived. You don’t want your competition to know your weaknesses. You don’t want to lose sponsors. But I think they mostly don’t always talk about injuries because they’re not always acknowledging injuries. Because you have to be positive and believe and move forward or you’d never survive. I’ve been dealing with and fixing and adjusting workouts because of a lingering hamstring type issue for over a month. But I’m not ignoring it because I want to ignore it. I’m just believing I can resolve it and it’ll be better and I don’t need to label it an injury. Not yet.

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• This Youtube video of newly crowned world champ Gustav Iden preparing for the championships in Nice is interesting simply because their Airbnb and cobbling together equipment and waiting out the rain looks just like everyone else’s. There is no secret sauce. (Youtube)
   
• If you want to get really into pre-Kona analysis, Thorsten’s all-encompassing and comprehensive report is out. (TriRating)
   
• I’ve never asked to watch TSA inspect my bike when I fly, but apparently you can. (Slowtwitch)
   
• None of these tips on how to build better habits are new, but they’re probably all true. (Outside)
   
• There’s also not necessarily a ton of new information about training, nature, nurture, and how to be fast in the story of these three brothers from Norway who are all world-class runners, but it’s still interesting. Maybe what we can learn from them is to finally believe what we already know. (New York Times)
   
• I know I’m probably really hung up on how they treat cycling in Europe, but I’m still really hung up on it. And this family’s experience of learning to cycle like a Dutchman rang true. (Live Feisty/New Yorker)
   
• Also, I’m all here for the angry teenager’s speech on climate change. She’s 100% right. Everyone should be ashamed of themselves. (NBC News)
   
• On that note, it’s time to end offices. I’ve gotten really pissed off when I think about all the empty buildings being air conditioned and lit even at night, so I’m glad someone else is pissed off about it too. (Dame Magazine)
   
• Did you know there was a time smog was so bad in L.A. that people thought there’d been a gas attack. Back before our auto emissions standards. (California Sun)
   
• I didn’t realize that for months before the Malibu Creek State Park shooting there had been other shootings the park ignored or didn’t make public or covered up. (Outside)
   
• I also didn’t know “Kentucky Croquet” was even a thing. (Deadspin)
   
• I am, however, not shocked that it turns out winning the lottery actually does make you happier. It’d make me happier right now. (Vox)

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Comments & thoughts

– Jason pointed out I missed Houston and Texas in my round-up of Kona camp locations. Though that hasn’t worked out great what with the hurricane situation. 

– And Jessica’s mom was also quite pissed about the barricades around the start at Nice. So was my mother-in-law, man. 

– Speaking of Nice, @lifeoftri said, “I love the bit about amateur Americans thinking something like this course could never happen. So hilarious and accurate.” It’s true, though, there was a part of me that kept thinking, ‘But it’s still *triathlon.* The course can’t be that crazy.’ I was wrong.

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‘If We Were Riding’ is a weekly triathlon-ish newsletter written by Kelly O’Mara and produced by Live Feisty Media. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every Wednesday morning. You can also read past issues. This episode is from Sept. 25, 2019.