British Triathlon in partnership with Lagardère/Upsolut will hold a leg of the inaugural International Triathlon Union’s Triathlon World Championship Series on the weekend of 15/16 August next year in Hyde Park.
Dextro Energy will be the title sponsor for the series, now to be known as the Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series. It will consist of seven World Championship events and a Grand Final, all featuring live television. A record $2million will be at stake in the battle to become ITU’s 2009 world champion.
The Hyde Park event will see the best triathletes from around the world race head to head for the £125,000 prize purse in and around Hyde Park, the location of the triathlon at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The London event will be the fifth race in the World Championship Series, following on from Singapore, Madrid, Washington DC, Kitzbühel and Hamburg. The Series continues after London with a race in Yokohama before the Grand Final on Australia’s Gold Coast in early September.
The race weekend will include the British Youth and Junior Triathlon Championships and there will also be a disabled competition. Alongside the elite racing there will be an open entry triathlon for newcomers to the sport, and the event aims to engage with the local community through offering opportunities to volunteer and spectate.
“British Triathlon is delighted to have been selected to host one of the races in the new ITU World Championship Series. This has given British Triathlon an opportunity to further raise the profile of one of the country’s fastest growing sports in the lead up to the London 2012 Olympic Games,” said British Triathlon President, Dr Sarah Springman OBE.
“Hyde Park will provide an incredible backdrop for one of the most exciting and dynamic Olympic sports. The event will offer a magnificent opportunity for our athletes and officials to prepare on home soil ahead of the 2012 Olympiad.”
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “Bringing the ITU Triathlon World Championship Series to London in 2009 is an excellent idea and an opportunity to establish Hyde Park as one of our key Olympic venues. As London builds towards 2012, the World Championship Series will showcase electrifying sporting action against an unrivalled central London backdrop. Londoners and visitors alike will see some of the world's best athletes compete in the heart of London – but they will also be able to have a go themselves at the same venue.”
“I am really looking forward to competing at the ITU World Championship Series event in London, it will be fantastic to race in front of a home crowd,” said Wales’s World Triathlon Champion Helen Jenkins (née Tucker). “As athletes we can really show off our sport and raise its profile at such a prestigious location. I am looking forward to competing as part of a strong British team at the event, and hopefully we can provide the crowd with something to cheer about!”
“The new series is a significant step forward in the history of the sport,” said ITU Secretary General Loreen Barnett. “Given this is the first year of the series and with the current global economic crisis, this is a very successful outcome. We’re proud to take this series to great cities that have shown tremendous support.”
The year-end bonus pool will be almost triple from previous years, with $700,000 being presented at the end of the series. Each World Championship event will feature a $150,000 prize purse with the Grand Final offering $250,000.
About British Triathlon
British Triathlon is the National Governing Body for triathlon, the UK’s fastest growing sport. At international level Great Britain boasts a strong squad of world ranked elite triathletes who regularly achieve international success and has some outstanding young talent emerging from its youth programmes. Since becoming an Olympic sport in 2000, British Triathlon has seen annual increases in membership numbers of 10%. There are over 700 triathlon events conducted in Great Britain each year including the renowned Mazda London Triathlon and British Triathlon Elite Series which attracts athletes from all over the world. (BritishTriathlon.org)
About the International Triathlon Union (ITU)
The International Triathlon Union is the world governing body for the Olympic sport of Triathlon and all related multi-sport disciplines: Duathlon, Aquathlon and Winter Triathlon. ITU was founded in 1989 at the first ITU Congress in Avignon, France and has maintained its headquarters in Vancouver, Canada since then. It now has over 120 affiliated National Federations around the world and is the youngest International Federation in the Olympics. Triathlon was awarded Olympic status in 1994. ITU is proudly committed to supporting the development of the sport worldwide through strong relationships with continental and national federations, working with its partners to offer a balanced sport development programme from grassroots to a high-performance level. For more information, visit Triathlon.org.
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