With an overall increase of 15 per cent, prize money from the eight series events and the year-end bonus pool will total $2.06-million (all funds USD).

"Across the board we are seeing tremendous growth in our premier series - from spectators to participants to sponsors to broadcast partners and now with prize money for our elite athletes," said Marisol Casado, ITU President and IOC Member.  "On the back this growth, 2012 is poised to be the greatest and most exciting triathlon season to date."

The Grand Final in Auckland will feature a $270,000 prize purse while the prize money for every other series event will be $170,000. Also, each race and the Grand Final will also now award prize money down to the 20th place, whereas in 2011 only athletes who finished in the top-15 claimed prize money.

Athletes will vie for an additional $600,000 in the year-end bonus pool which pays the top 30 ranked women and men - up from top-20 - at season's end. This figure is up from $500,000 in the 2011 season. Overall, it means that there is an increase of $260,000 to the overall pool, up from $1.8-million to $2.06-million.  Finishing the year atop the series rankings will not only earn an athlete the coveted title of "ITU World Champion" but also net $60,000 of the bonus pool.

The 2012 ITU World Triathlon Series kicks off on 14-15 April in Sydney, Australia.  With eight events in eight different countries, the 2012 ITU World Champions will be crowned at the Grand Final in Auckland, New Zealand on 20-22 October.

The ITU World Triathlon Series was launched in 2009, expanding the former single-day World Championship race.  Points are accrued throughout the season and athletes who win the overall series are crowned the ITU World Champions.

Click here for more on the ITU World Triathlon Series

KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii: Records were broken at the 2011 Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona this weekend, as Craig Alexander and Chrissie Wellington reclaimed the world tiles in the grueling endurance contest.

Alexander, who won the event in 2008 and 2009, broke the big record on Saturday – the course record – finishing in 8 hours 3 minutes and 56 seconds. That beats the record set by Luc Van Lierde in 1996 by 12 seconds.

Alexander is only the fourth person in the history of the race to win three times and the first person ever to earn Ironman World Championship 70.3 and Ironman World Championship titles in the same year.

Alexander crossed the finish line more than five minutes ahead of the fellow Australian Pete Jacobs. The Andreas Raelert, who was neck in neck with Alexander down the stretch last year, finished third.

After withdrawing from the 2010 Ford Ironman World Championship due to illness, Great Britian’s Chrissie Wellington returned to Kona to defend her course record.

After suffering a bike accident while training in Kona two weeks ago that left her legs scarred and bruised, Wellington had to dig deep to take the title.

Australian Mirinda Carfrae – last year’s champion – showcased her skill as a runner, challenging Wellington up until the finish line while breaking her own run course record with a split of 2:52:09.

Over 1,850 athletes representing more than 50 countries and nearly all 50 states started the Ford Ironman in the waters of Kailua Bay when mayor Billy Kenoi shot the traditional cannon. The race which consists of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run – all along the Kona coast.

Beijing, China (10 September 2011) - Great Britain's Alistair Brownlee has firmly stamped himself as the man to beat at the London 2012 Olympic Games, after capturing his second ITU World Championship title in stunning style on the 2008 Olympic course in Beijing. In yet another dominating performance, Brownlee kept his winning record Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Grand Final races intact in Beijing on Saturday.

Brownlee has won each Dextro Energy Triathlon Series Grand Final since the series started in 2009 and after hitting T2 with a lead group of 30, he turned in his trademark blistering run in cold and wet conditions in Beijing to win the Grand Final, with Switzerland's Sven Riederer just edging out Jonathan Brownlee for silver. Alistair finished with a run split of 29 minutes 50 seconds, even after stopping to high five spectators down the home straight.

Those results just confirmed the overall 2011 ITU World Championship rankings as they stood before Beijing, with Alistair Brownlee claiming the overall world championship with a points total of

4285 points.  Jonathan Brownlee locked up the silver with 3992 points while last year's World Champion Javier Gomez took the bronze with 3671 total points. Gomez finished sixth overall in Beijing.

In the end the conditions played perfectly to the older Brownlee, who stormed to wins in the wet in both Kitzbuehel and London this year, and said that as soon as he saw the tough conditions he was confident.

"When I woke up this morning and saw it was cold and wet, I just thought, 'yes,'" he said.

"The swim was really easy...we came out first and second, then we knew the bike was dangerous so just really tried to keep in control. On the run, we were running and we got away and it was just like running through treacle today. Then I knew (Jonny) wasn't really great, you realise that when you train together every day. I wanted to keep him with me but I realised I should probably go on that last lap. So it was just great to cross the line really."

The win was Alistair's 11^th in a Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series race.

Jonathan said he was happy to hold on for Grand Final bronze, and his first elite ITU World Championship medal, after winning the Under23 World Championships last year in Budapest.

 "It's a real, real tough course here. It was a pure race, I was the first out of the swim, I didn't actually really want to do that but a few people stopped swimming, so I thought 'push on,' he said.

"Then on the bike I thought we were going to get away, there was that group of five and thought we were going to get away. I started the run pretty tired, then I felt alright in the first couple of laps, but then all of a sudden my legs just went completely," said Jonathan.

"I'm really pleased I held on for third because I could have quite easily given up, and thought oh this is a bad day, I'll just come sixth or seventh. But it was a hard, hard race out there."

Despite the cold conditions the race was quicker than the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the last ITU race to be held on the course. The elite men dove into Shisanling reservoir in the north Beijing district of Changping for the one-lap 1.5km swim leg. Jonathan Brownlee exited first, minus his goggles, and quickly jumped to the front alongside his brother and Russian Alexander Brukhankov. But more than 30 athletes went with them and despite repeated attempts to breakaway, the lead group stayed the same for the six-lap 40km bike.

A chase pack led by Australia's Chris McCormack cut the gap to 30 seconds halfway through, but that dropped to 45 seconds on the final lap, leaving the lead pack with the only realistic chance to medal.

The Brownlees then jumped out to the lead, but couldn't get more than 10 seconds on a group that included Gomez, Riederer, Brukhankov, Dmitry Polyansky (RUS), David Hauss (FRA) and Laurent Vidal (FRA) until lap three. Alistair Brownlee made his move there, dropping Jonathan. Gomez and Riederer then bridged the gap, before Gomez just fell off the pace and Riederer stormed home to finish second, ending a string of bad luck for Riederer in Beijing.

"The first time, I broke my toe, the second time I lost my wedding ring in the lake and the Olympics was very bad for me but now I am second in the Grand Final," said Riederer.

Russian Dmitry Polyansky finished fourth, enough to move him up to an overall world championship top 10 finish. France finished with three athletes in the top-10 in the Beijing race, with Laurent Vidal fifth, David Hauss seventh and Vincent Luis eighth. 

Reigning Beijing Olympic champion Jan Frodeno (GER), the last man to win on the Beijing course, pulled out of the race on the second bike lap. The other medallists from that Olympic race, Simon Whitfield (CAN) and Bevan Docherty (NZL) had better days, Whitfield's 13th place was his best series result this season, while Docherty finished 19th.

Final Results - Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU Triathlon World Championship Grand Final Beijing

Elite Men

1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run 

Gold - Alistair Brownlee (GBR) - 1:48:07

Silver - Sven Riederer (SUI) - 1:48:14  

Bronze - Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) - 1:48:17     

4 - Dmitry Polyanskiy (RUS) -  1:48:20   

5 - Laurent Vidal (FRA) - 1:48:24   

6 - Javier Gomez (ESP) - 1:48:27   

7 - David Hauss (FRA) - 1:48:35   

8 - Vincent Luis (FRA) - 1:48:44   

9 - Maik Petzold (GER)  - 1:48:46   

10 - Ivan Rana (ESP) - 1:48:50    

Final Standings - 2011 ITU Triathlon World Championships

Elite Men

Gold - Alistair Brownlee (4285 points)

Silver - Jonathan Brownlee (3992 points)

Bronze - Javier Gomez (3671 points)

4th - Sven Riederer (3306 points)

5th - Alexander Brukhankov (3208 points)                                                

6th - David Hauss (3157 points)

7th - Laurent Vidal (2844 points)

8th - Dmitry Polyanskiy (2764 points)

9th - Will Clarke (2495 points)

10th - Brad Kahlefeldt (2217 points) 

The elite women start at 13:36 local time in Beijing to decide the 2011 World Champion.  Watch live at triathlonlive.tv

                                                                     -30 

His brother Jonathan joined him on the podium in the No. 2 spot to give Great Britain top honors at the 2011 ETU European Championships. The battle for third went to Dmitry Polyansky (RUS), edging out Spain's Mario Mola who finished in fourth in front of an excited crowd.

"It's absolutely fantastic," Alistair said about winning. "It is my first re-claimed senior title, which I am delighted about."

From the start, the Brownlee brothers positioned themselves well, swimming on the hip of leaders Ivan Vasiliev (RUS), Alessandro Fabian (ITA) and Richard Varga (SVK). Varga sped to the front on the second lap and made it out of T1 as the man to chase. Alistair, Vasiliev, and Jonathan followed, with a slew of men behind them ready to segway to the bike.

Vasiliev and the Brownlee's took the reins in the lead group, controlling the pace with the the first chase group 20 seconds back in the first lap. Javier Gomez (ESP), who won the European Championships in 2009, rode in the second chase group on the first lap. Trying to reclaim his title, Gomez made his way to the front of the chase pack in the second lap in an attempt to catch a blistering pace set by Fabian.

On the third lap, Alistair, who was pushing the speed hard, fell out of contention due to technical difficulties. His brother and Vasiliev continued on in the top spots. By midway, Gomez joined Jonathan and the leaders, fusing the lead and chase pack together for a group of 29 men separated by just 5 seconds. Alistair, back on his bike, continued fighting, leading the new chase pack who were 56 seconds back.

By the end of the fifth lap, Alistair had made up an incredible 30 seconds, giving a vicious effort to catch his brother and new leader Attila Fecskovics (HUN). Without Alistair, the lead group continued to slow, allowing him to move the chase peloton all the way up to the leaders by the sixth lap, causing all 44 men to ride within seven seconds of each other.

"I just went as fast as I could and was racing as hard as I could," Alistair said. "I just wanted to get back in the race. I had great support from the team. Todd did some great pulling and Jonny did some blocking. I'm sure he would have won if he hadn't."

In the final laps, Polyansky (RUS) and Todd Leckie (GBR) made a break for it, opening up a 10-second distance. Polyansky got caught up in T2 when he confused his spot in the transition area. He joined Pavel Simko (SVK) and Leckie, but the Brownlee brothers, 33 seconds down, wasted no time setting out on a cannon pace and quickly chasing down the leaders.

Gomez also pushed the first round, moving into fifth place and 22 seconds out of gold medal contention. For a short time, there were flashbacks from Madrid, where the podium consisted of the Brownlees and Gomez. However, it proved to be too much too soon, as Gomez faded nearly two minutes behind on the second leg due to a stitch.

"I just couldn't run. I had a stitch," Gomez said. "I almost stopped completely, but Ivan (Rana) came along and said 'You have to finish.' So, I tried to keep running and finish for the crowd. I am really sorry for the crowd that came to support me. They are very special. That's why I wanted to finish."

The Brownlees took the opportunity to continue to surge forward, giving themselves a 19-second lead. Polyansky attempted to hold of Spanish hope Mola, who was rapidly making up distance between himself and third place.

"For a while I thought I was going to win," Polyansky said. "I was very happy. I was even happy when I was behind the Brownlee brothers. It was an enormous race today."

By the final lap, Alistair entered the stadium with a hefty lead over his younger brother. Unstoppable, Alistair crossed the finish line first to claim his third title, followed by this brother eight seconds later. Mola made a valiant effort to catch Polyansky, but the distance was too great, giving Polyansky the bronze.

Kitzbühel, Austria (18 June 2011) - Wet, windy and cold weather did nothing to dampen Alistair Brownlee's stellar Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series form, as the 23-year old decimated the field for the second time in two weeks to win Kitzbühel and take the lead in the overall 2011 standings.

Brownlee was the fastest man in the swim, equal fastest in the bike and then blitzed the field in the run for his second consecutive Dextro Energy Triathlon Series win - after taking out Madrid just two weeks ago - and move ahead of Javier Gomez and younger brother Jonathan in the overall rankings.

Afterwards, Brownlee said the conditions hadn't worried him - except when he went to slow down.

"It wasn't all difficult to be honest, I don't think the conditions had that much of effect on me until the last couple of laps of the run," he said. "I knew I had a decent lead and I knew I was racing next weekend (at the 2011 European Championships) so I kind of didn't push on too much and I think that kind of hurt, and I think maybe I should have pushed on, I might have stayed a bit warmer."

He also responded to comments that he was changing the sport, saying it was the best feedback he could receive. 

"It's fantastic, it's the ultimate compliment" he said. "I looked at the sport and I thought I want to be a kind of athlete who can win in any condition on any day, on any course, independent of how the race goes, and I think that's what I'm trying to do at the moment. I raced hard out of the swim today, I managed to get away at the end of the bike, and then had a good run today too, so it's great winning in every situation."

In tough conditions - with a starting air temperature of 17.2 degrees - Brownlee was first out of the water and then stayed at the front of a huge 50-man peloton for five laps before making a break with Stuart Hayes (GBR) and Reinaldo Colucci (BRA) with two laps to go. Those three then hit T2 with a gap of 30 seconds on the rest, just as the rain was really starting to pour. From there Brownlee was simply too good and too fast for the rest of the field, dropping Colucci and Hayes in the first lap. It's the second time Brownlee has won Kitzbühel, he won in 2009 before finishing 40th in 2010.

While the gold medal was decided early on, there was a thrilling battle for the other podium places as Alexander Brukhankov (RUS), Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS), Sven Riederer (SUI), Will Clarke (GBR) and Laurent Vidal (FRA) ran through and passed Hayes and Colucci in the first few kilometres. Around the 5km mark, Brukhankov made a break and stayed clear to claim silver. Sven Riederer (SUI) then made his break on the bell lap, holding on to claim his second bronze medal for the 2011 season - after also finishing third in Sydney.

Riederer said that wasn't a coincidence, as it also poured in Sydney, and he's a fan of cold weather.

"It was a perfect day for me, it's weather for me, I like it really much to have the weather like it was today and it's fantastic to have the second podium for this season," he said.

Clarke finished fourth, Kahlefeldt fifth and Vidal sixth. Russians Vladimir Turbaevskiy and Dmitry Polyansky, Frenchman Vincent Luis and New Zealand's Bevan Docherty rounded out the top-10.

In other notable results, Chris McCormack's return to ITU racing 14-years after he claimed an ITU World Championship, stumbled out of the gates when he pulled out four laps into the bike. McCormack was one of the last out of the water and was about four minutes down on the lead pack when he pulled out. Macca wasn't alone though as the conditions claimed plenty, with Simon Whitfield (CAN), Steffen Justus (GER) and Courtney Atkinson (CAN) also failing to finish.

Brownlee is now leading the 2011 Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series rankings after three rounds, with 1690 points. Brukhankov moves into second with 1663 points. Javier Gomez(ESP) and Jonathan Brownlee (GBR), who both didn't race in Kitzbühel, are in third and fourth respectively, with Sven Riderer moving up to fifth.