with high-quality international broadcasts. In 2022 The PTO launched the PTO Tour, the first series of pro-triathlon 'majors' each with a prize purse of $1M including the PTO Canadian Open, Collins Cup and PTO US Open. Conflict Two major rule making bodies, the ITU and WTC, had an overlap of rules and authority, an issue which began to create conflict in the 2000s. This culminated in 2005 when the ITU and USAT asked all national triathlon federations to refuse to continue sanctioning any WTC events. The reasons for this stemmed from WTC not recognising the ITU as the sport's governing body as WTC was attempting to set up their own federation. Furthermore, ITU and USAT argued against supporting WTC because they were a profit driven organisation, that it was directly conflicting with ITU titles, such as the long and standard distance world championship, and that the WTC was not following World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules. If ITU member nations did not comply with International Olympic Committee (IOC) Charter rules they risked being excluded from the Olympic program. However, in 2006, the ITU backed down on its stance allowing national federations to once again sanction WTC events. This was due to an out-of-court settlement days before a lawsuit was to be argued at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. This settlement had a large effect on WTC races, including WADA membership for the WTC and out-of-competition testing for elite athletes. Since 2008, coinciding with leadership changes at both the ITU and WTC, the two organisations have been steadily working together. Efforts in 2012 and 2014 resulted in the announcement that Ironman would standardise the rule set for its 2015 races and would start the unification toward ITU rules on long-distance racing with specific interest on the drafting and penalty rules. In 2017, the ITU and WTC signed a memorandum of understanding in which the two organisations stated they will: Harmonise anti-doping efforts Fully establish the ITU as the singular international federation for triathlon Develop a unified athlete focused rule set for specific distance categories Align efforts to foster the growth and development of the sport Race formats Triathlons longer than full distance are classed as ultra-triathlons. Triathlons are not necessarily restricted to these prescribed distances. Distances can be any combination of distance set by race organizers to meet various distance constraints or to attract a certain type of athlete. The standard