Tomas Rodriguez Runs Away with April PTO Athlete of The Month

May 3, 2024

London, UK/ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – Tomas Rodriguez’s incredible performance at Ironman Texas has also landed him the top step for April’s PTO Athlete of the Month, in a month full of stand-out performances.

The spring-heeled Mexican obliterated the run course record in The Woodlands, with his split of 2:34:14 was the fastest of the day, and broke the run course record by six minutes. To announce himself as a real contender in the sport and secure the PTO Athlete of the Month vote ahead of Dutchman Youri Keulen and Australian Ashleigh Gentle’s fireworks in Singapore and American Taylor Knibb’s Oceanside masterclass. Lionel Sanders (Oceanside) and Kat Matthews (IM Texas) could also consider themselves hard done by to not make the four-athlete shortlist.

A panel of triathlon media that includes Global Triathlon Network (GTN), Triathlete, Triathlon Magazine & Tri-Mag.de vote on their 1, 2, 3 from a four-athlete shortlist – awarding 3 points for #1, 2 pts for #2 and 1 pt for #3 – with triathlon fans also voting via the T100 social handles.

Rodriguez received top marks from four of the five judges to reach 14 points; Youri Keulen was second on 9 points after his lung bursting win at the Singapore T100; with Taylor Knibb third and Ashleigh Gentle fourth.

To celebrate his Texas triumph, Tomas posted in his native Spanish on his Instagram account: ‘De La México para el mundo 🍾🍾’, which translates as ‘From Mexico to the world’ and was a celebration of not just the biggest win of his career so far, but the first full Ironman win by a Mexican.

Immediately following his victory, he also spoke in Spanish to explain his mindset on his last run lap, where he was clearly suffering. My mindset was: “it’s a long day and enjoy the pain…A la mierda tu cuerpo cansado!” Which roughly translates as: “To hell with your tired body!”

Hailing from Zacatecas, a rugged high-altitude plateau in north central Mexico, as Triathlete helpfully informed us, he’s certainly got the triathlon world’s attention and what he does next is likely to put Zacatecas firmly on the map.

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For Further Information:

Anthony Scammell E: Anthony.Scammell@protriathletes.org

About Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO)

The PTO is a sports body that is co-owned by its professional athletes, seeking to elevate and grow the sport of triathlon and take it to the next level. The T100 Triathlon World Tour is the new name for the PTO Tour and has been designated by World Triathlon as the ‘official World Championship for long distance triathlon’. It is a season-long schedule of eight T100 races during 2024 that will be competed over 100km (2km swim, 80km bike and 18km run) and will feature the world’s best triathletes going head-to-head in Miami (9 March), Singapore (13-14 April), San Francisco (8-9 June), London (27-28 July), Ibiza (28-29 September), Lake Las Vegas (19-20 October), Dubai (16-17 November) and at the Grand Final (29-30 November). There will also be racing opportunities for amateurs at all the events, including the new 100km distance at six stages, including: Singapore, London, Ibiza, Lake Las Vegas, Dubai and at the Grand Final. The global broadcast shows the races live around the world in 195+ territories, courtesy of the PTO’s partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery as well as a range of other international, regional and local broadcasters.