Organizers of the 5150 Triathlon Series, whose professional championship race highlights the Hy-Vee Triathlon, will change qualifying rules so that more top athletes can compete against each other at Olympic and Ironman distances in 2012.

Under the changes, winners of the Hy-Vee 5150 U.S. Championship, Marine Corps Ironman World Championship 70.3, and Ford Ironman World Championship will receive automatic bids to all three events the following year.

That means Ironman world champions Craig Alexander and Melissa Rollison will not only be invited back to the race they conquered last year, they will also have the opportunity to race in the 2012 Hy-Vee race.

Likewise, Greg Bennett and Lisa Norden, 2011 Hy-Vee winners, will be invited to compete in both Ironman events.

“This is a milestone for our sport,” said Andrew Messick, Chief Executive Officer of the World Triathlon Corp. “Automatic qualifying for our champions across the three championship events will add an interesting and competitive dynamic.”

“We’re excited to see how this unites athletes within the triathlon community.”

Bennett calls it “encouraging to see WTC introduce this initiative with the 5150, Ironman 70.3 and Ironman champions getting the chance to race each other at these championship events.

“Over time, we will see some great battles between athletes who excel in their particular arena and are getting challenged by a different distance,” Bennett says. “Bringing the best in the sport together to race each other will be brilliant for triathlon, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to race at all three championship events in 2012.”

Mirinda Carfrae of Australia, second-place finisher at both the Ford Ironman and Hy-Vee, calls the changes “a great step by WTC to encourage the best athletes to compete at the biggest races across all distances.”

The announcement of the automatic qualifying system comes as prize purses are at an all-time high. Not only will the 2012 Hy-Vee race be worth more than $1.1 million, the total 2012 Ironman World Championship 70.3 prize purse doubles to $200,000 and the Ironman World Championship prize purse increases to $650,000.

A full list including the qualifying schedule and points can be found at www.ironmanpromembership.com/hy-vee-5150-qualifying.