With less than two weeks to go until Challenge Family’s flagship event, The Championship, a world-class 70-strong professional field has been confirmed, including the sport’s newest World Triathlon Long Distance World Champions, Clément Mignon and Marjolaine Pierré.
Taking place at the x-bionic® sphere Olympic training venue in Šamorín, Slovakia, over 1,200 of Challenge Family’s top professional and age group athletes will line up on 21 May in a bid to claim the ultimate Championship titles over 1.9km swim, 90km bike and 21.1km run.
Joining Mignon on the men’s start line is a strong international field that includes seven of the top 30 ranked athletes Frederic Funk (GER), Aaron Royle (AUS), Matt Hanson (USA), Pieter Heemeryck (BEL), Tom Bishop (GBR) and Pablo Dapena González (ESP) as well as local Slovakian hero and 2022 runner up, Richard Varga.
In the women’s race, Pierré will also be up against a competitive international field that includes defending champion, Sara Pérez Sala (ESP) and Fenella Langridge (GBR), both of whom are returning to Šamorín for a third time. Also in the mix are Rebecca Clarke (NZL), India Lee (GBR), Grace Thek (AUS), Lottie Wilms (NED) and Svenja Thoes (GER), all of whom are closely matched, making for an exciting race ahead.
The professional athletes are joined by over 1,000 age group athletes who have qualified for the right to compete at The Championship by placing in the top six at one or more of Challenge Family’s 35 middle and long distance races around the world.
The Championship weekend will start on Saturday 20 May with the Slovak National Championships over the Olympic distance, plus the Special Olympics European Triathlon Competition, Slovak Cup Sprint Distance and a Tryathlon for those inspired to give the sport a go and not forgetting the kids with the Junior Run.
The start gun for the flagship The Championship race, featuring the 20m non-drafting rule, will go off at 8:30am CEST on Sunday 21 May. Full coverage of the professional race, The Championship Live powered by ROUVY, plus a finish line cam until the last finisher crosses the line, will be provided at www.challenge-family.live and on Challenge Family Facebook Live. For further information, visit www.thechampionship.de.
Full professional athletes start list (*PTO Rankings are by end of 2022)
Male Pro
| Bib | First Name | Last Name | PTO Ranking | Nationality |
| 1 | Richard | Varga | 210 | Slovakia |
| 2 | Frederic | Funk | 10 | Germany |
| 3 | Aaron | Royle | 11 | Australia |
| 4 | Matthew | Hanson | 16 | United States |
| 5 | Pieter | Heemeryck | 22 | Belgium |
| 6 | Clément | Mignon | 23 | France |
| 7 | Thomas | Bishop | 28 | United Kingdom |
| 8 | Pablo | Dapena González | 30 | Spain |
| 9 | David | McNamee | 42 | United Kingdom |
| 10 | Youri | Keulen | 50 | Netherlands |
| 11 | Antony | Costes | 63 | France |
| 12 | Simon | Viain | 65 | France |
| 13 | Nicolas | Mann | 67 | Germany |
| 14 | Ondrej | Kubo | 73 | Slovakia |
| 15 | Nicholas | Free | 77 | Australia |
| 16 | Lukáš | Kočař | 83 | Czech Republic |
| 17 | Kieran | Linders | 88 | United Kingdom |
| 18 | Thomas | Davis | 94 | United Kingdom |
| 19 | Ruben | Zepuntke | 102 | Germany |
| 20 | Pamphiel | Pareyn | 106 | Belgium |
| 21 | Jesper | Svensson | 107 | Sweden |
| 22 | Ognjen | Stojanovic | 114 | Serbia |
| 23 | Tristan | Olij | 128 | Netherlands |
| 24 | Kacper | Stępniak | 129 | Poland |
| 25 | Leonard | Arnold | 134 | Germany |
| 26 | Sergiy | Kurochkin | 142 | Ukraine |
| 27 | Marc | Eggeling | 148 | Germany |
| 28 | Joshua | Lewis | 155 | United Kingdom |
| 29 | Harry | Palmer | 161 | United Kingdom |
| 30 | Michele | Marchelli | 170 | Italy |
| 31 | Markus | Thomschke | 178 | Germany |
| 32 | Strahinja | Trakic | 180 | Serbia |
| 33 | Sven | Thalmann | 192 | Switzerland |
| 34 | Marcel | Bolbat | 195 | Germany |
| 35 | Tomasz | Szala | 213 | Poland |
| 36 | Tomáš | Řenč | 219 | Czech Republic |
| 37 | Kristian | Rød | 221 | Norway |
| 38 | Gabriel | Sandör | 271 | Norway |
| 39 | Piotr | Ławicki | 400 | Poland |
| 40 | Vincent | Terrier | 504 | France |
| 41 | Jonathan | Wayaffe | 264 | Belgium |
| 42 | Mathis | Margirier | 37 | France |
| 43 | Alessandro | Fabian | 94 | Italy |
Female Pro
| Bib | First Name | Last Name | PTO Ranking | Nationality |
| 101 | Sara | Pérez Sala | 21 | Spain |
| 102 | Fenella | Langridge | 13 | United Kingdom |
| 103 | Rebecca | Clarke | 30 | New Zealand |
| 104 | India | Lee | 32 | United Kingdom |
| 105 | Marjoliane | Pierré | 33 | France |
| 106 | Grace | Thek | 34 | Australia |
| 107 | Lotte | Wilms | 38 | Nederlands |
| 108 | Svenja | Thoes | 40 | Germany |
| 109 | Imogen | Simmonds | 46 | Switzerland |
| 110 | Diede | Diederiks | 49 | Netherlands |
| 111 | Lucy | Byram | 57 | United Kingdom |
| 112 | Amelia | Watkinson | 64 | New Zealand |
| 113 | Magda | Nieuwoudt | 67 | South Africa |
| 114 | Elisabetta | Curridori | 75 | Italy |
| 115 | Justine | Guerard | 86 | France |
| 116 | Caroline | Pohle | 94 | Germany |
| 117 | Margie | Santimaria | 100 | Italy |
| 118 | Jenny | Jendryschik | 109 | Germany |
| 119 | Simone | Kumhofer | 112 | Austria |
| 120 | Jenny | Nae | 136 | Sweden |
| 121 | Rosie | Weston | 146 | United Kingdom |
| 122 | Rachele | Botti | 147 | Switzerland |
| 123 | Julia | Skala | 158 | Germany |
| 124 | Shiva | Leisner | 169 | Denmark |
| 125 | Jenny | Nilsson | 175 | Sweden |
| 126 | Valentina | d’Angeli | 182 | Italy |
| 127 | Sara | Svensk | 183 | Sweden |
| 128 | Maria | Cześnik | 186 | Poland |
| 129 | Claire | Weller | 246 | United Kingdom |