ITU November Newsletter

Miyakazi World Cup puts an end to the 2017 season

Eight ITU World Triathlon Series, the Rotterdam ITU Grand Final, 15 World Cups, the ITU 2017 Penticton Multisport Festival… The 2017 ITU season came to a close in Miyazaki (Japan) and is time now for the athletes to take a (quick) breath, and for all the staff in ITU to focus on planning the 2018 season. Ahead, 12 months with seven WTS races and the Grand Final in Gold Coast, 18 World Cups, the 2018 Fyn Multisport Festival and a lot of multi-sport events like the Commonwealth Games, Youth Olympic Games, European Championships, Asian Games, Mediterranean Games… Start planning, see you all out there on the blue carpet!

ITU President’s Corner

November is always the month for sharing knowledge and experiences, for meetings and a trip to the Olympic Capital, in Lausanne. This year, the sports community gathered first in Prague for the 22nd ANOC General Assembly. During two days, more than 1,000 delegates including representatives from all 206 NOCs as well as representatives from the IOC, International Federations and upcoming Organising Committees attended meetings and conferences to pave the way for an even better 2018 season of sport. It was a great chance to talk about the challenges and opportunities ahead. But we also addressed the need for protection of clean athletes, good governance matters, and the upcoming Winter Games in PyeongChang.With all those thoughts on my mind, I traveled to Lausanne for the IOC Commissions’ week right after being appointed to another IOC Commissions: the Coordination for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, as well as the Coordination Commission of the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires 2018. Being part of all those Commissions, as I already was part of the Women in Sport, Olympic Solidarity and Public Affairs and Social Development through Sport, is not only an honor, is also the chance of speaking on behalf of our International Federation and making sure that all Organising Committees understand the needs of our sport. And, of course, is the chance of being in permanent contact with other IOC members and share with them our vision for the future.

I also had the chance of participating in the ceremony of the Golden Rings awards, and along with Danka Bartekova, present the Golden Rings for the Best Olympic Feature. Golden rings were awarded to NBC Olympics and the show “The Most Beautiful Things”, while silver ones were for China Central Television with “A Sequel of Love” and the bronze for TV Globo with “Esporte Espetacular”.
I was honored to present the IOC Women in Sports award to Ms. Androulla Vassiliou (Cyprus), the Former European Commissioner for Sport, who has been instrumental in placing gender equality in sport within European Union policy-making.

Before all those meetings, I had the chance of traveling to Osaka, in Japan, for a meeting of the Council of the World Master Games, which will be held in 2021 in the Japanese city and will have triathlon events included in their calendar. And I am thrilled to be back in Asia this week, as I am in South Korea to have a first-hand look at one of our most important development projects of this year: The Korean Triathlon Federation (KTF) – ITU Triathlon Coaching Education Programme for Olympic xxxx (ODA) Recipient National Federations. During 10 days, 31 National Triathlon Federations and 58 participants from all around the world (all five continents are represented), as well as 10 accredited ITU facilitators speaking eight languages will participate in this great initiative to pave the way for our development projects during 2018.

Royal preparations underway in Fyn for the ITU 2018 Multisport World Championship Festival

In the summer of 2018, thousands of triathletes from all over the world will gather in the Danish city of Fyn to enjoy the ITU Multisport World Championships Festival. The beautiful island will provide the water, roads and wind to the 5 x Triathlon World Championships, and HRH Frederik the Crown Prince of Denmark, wanted to take a first-hand look at the cross triathlon course nine months before the races.
Crown Prince Frederik, a triathlete himself as well as IOC member and member of the Coordination Commission for the Paris 2024 along with ITU President Marisol Casado, joined the President of the Danish Triathlon Federation, Mads Freund on the first recon of the course days before registration opens. If you don’t wanna miss the opportunity to join this magnificent event, stay tuned to the website!

Get ready for the Science and Triathlon Conference!

This year’s ITU Science and Triathlon Conference is much more than just a gathering of the best coaching minds in sport. The 2017 event brings the world’s top experts and researchers in endurance sports whom, over three days, will completely focus their attention on how to apply the latest science and research into best practices in coaching triathlon. This year programme is a combination of practical hands-on information and top experts in multiple fields. Don’t miss out this opportunity and register now. The conference will begin on December 5!

Triathletes within our Family

As you all know, ITU is not only about Elite races, there’s also plenty of opportunities for the not so talented ones within the triathlon family to shine in multiple events, dedicated around the world to our Age Groupers. And among those who love to compete in our Age Group events, we sure can find plenty of “family members”. Let’s see in every Newsletter what one of those stakeholders thinks about ITU events… First one in our series is Matthew Clarke, Managing Director of SEL.

Tell us a little about yourself?

Born in London, raised in Australia, fortunate to live in many cities. I love sport, I love to participate in sport, I love to study sport , and I love to work in sport. I am fortunate to have a very active family – a triathlete wife and 4 daughters all active in the pool or running who keep me motivated. My highlight was to work in and around the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games for seven (7) years, and then on all the Olympic since then in an operational capacity

You’re an active triathlete. Tell us about your 2017 World Triathlon event experience(s)?

I had a solid year in 2016 competing in 4 x 70.3 and then Nice Ironman in June. I then took it easy in 2017 with only a few races this year. But two races I did were the ITU Hamburg and Stockholm age group WTS events which were simply amazing. It really gave me the inspiration to have an improved plan for 2018.

How has your experience been working with the ITU team?

I love the power of sport, it has this ability to reach all corners of the globe and get people from all walks of life participating. Triathlon is one of these sports that seems to get everyone going. The elite athletes are something to behold, their training regimes, their nutrition plans and their desire to compete are impressive to say the least and then when you see 10.000 + athletes compete in Hamburg, with over 100,000 spectators in the heart of the city, it cant get much better than that so as I said race day, hats off to the ITU, the Organisers keep it going and I am more than glad that I and SEL, and part of the development of Triathlon.

What are your 2018 triathlon race plans?

I am looking to have a more disciplined training program and then race in 3 x Olympic distance, 3 x 70.3 and 1x Ironman (full). I will get more into my nutrition plan, a solid winter training program and ready for some good racing from April onwards

Women in Sport

ITU Women’s Committee – Promoting Women in Triathlon – Case Study #2

In the summer of 2017, Triathlon Ireland launched its ‘Equally Inspiring’ initiative – a four-year strategy to empower women through the sport of triathlon.

Triathlon has one of the highest female participation rates of all endurance sports in Ireland, with the number of women and girls taking part in our sport increasing by a massive 83% in the past four years. But with female members making up 34% of the community of triathletes in Ireland, women and girls remain under-represented in our sport. Read more!

Calendar Updates

Three Confederations, Africa, Europe and Oceania, have already released their 2018 Competition Calendar. Take out the calendar and start planning!
–European Triathlon Union 2018 Calendar
–African Triathlon Union 2018 Calendar
–Oceania Triathlon Union 2018 Calendar

There are some other changes in the calendars:- The Huelva ETU Triathlon European Cup Final and Junior European Cup has been cancelled
– The Ibiza 2018 ETU Multisport European Championships will host the middle distance triathlon while the long distance will take place in cooperation with Challenge in Regensburg, Germany.

Anti-Doping UpdatesWADA PUBLISHES 2018 LIST OF PROHIBITED SUBSTANCES AND METHODS
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has published the 2018 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods (List); along with, the 2018 Summary of Major Modifications and Explanatory Notes. The List comes into force on 1 January 2018.The List, which is one of five International Standards that are mandatory for all Signatories of the World Anti-Doping Code (Code), designates what substances and methods are prohibited both in- and out-of-competition; and, which substances are banned in particular sports.

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ITU November Newsletter