http://www.triathlon.org/news/ en merryn.sherwood@gmail.com Copyright 2012 2012-01-31T22:30:08+00:00 http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/db_schenker_joins_itu_world_triathlon_series_as_global_logistics_partner/ http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/db_schenker_joins_itu_world_triathlon_series_as_global_logistics_partner/#When:11:00:49Z The International Triathlon Union (ITU)—in collaboration with its global marketing partner Upsolut—today announced that DB Schenker has signed on to become the Global Logistics Partner of the ITU World Triathlon Series.  An industry leader, DB Schenker will provide transportation and logistics services for the ITU World Triathlon Series which will visit eight different countries on four continents, beginning with Sydney on April 14. The ITU World Triathlon Series and DB Schenker have agreed to partner for the next three years. Marisol Casado, ITU President and IOC Member: “The ITU World Triathlon Series is all about excellence so we are proud to welcome DB Schenker, a new partner that represents just that.  World class delivery and logistics support from DB Schenker is a wonderful addition and will contribute to the continuing success of the ITU World Triathlon Series.” Dr. Thomas C. Lieb, Chairman of the Management Board of Schenker AG: “We are excited to be partnering with the ITU World Triathlon Series. Triathlon events continue to grow across all five continents and the level of competition at all levels is far reaching. So to that end, to support and provide logistics services to the ITU series is a great honour for us. Transporting the goods and equipment across the eight events is what our service offering is all about – on time and in full.” In 2011 the ITU World Triathlon Series doubled its media figures compared to 2010. The TV duration was 917 hours; the coverage reached an audience of 207 million and made 4.6 billion FASPO contacts. The events had more than one million spectators while 27,500 participants competed in one of the age-group races. Entering its fourth year, the ITU World Triathlon Series is the premier triathlon series in the world and the most competitive.  Athletes compete in series events with total points added to determine the ITU Triathlon World Champion.  In 2012, the series will be staged in eight different countries, kicking off in Sydney in April and wrapping up in October at the Grand Final in Auckland where the ITU World Champions will be crowned. The deal is brokered by Upsolut Event GmbH, ITU’s commercial and marketing partner. Existing partners and sponsors of the ITU World Triathlon Series are: Dextro Energy, Samsung, Suunto, Skins, Specialized, Oakley and now DB Schenker. About DB Schenker: DB Schenker stands for the transportation and logistics activities of Deutsche Bahn (DB) and... Events, World Championship Series, Media Centre, Press Release, Regions, Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania 2012-01-26T11:00:49+00:00 http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/prize_money_for_itu_world_triathlon_series_increases_for_2012/ http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/prize_money_for_itu_world_triathlon_series_increases_for_2012/#When:22:25:04Z The International Triathlon Union (ITU) is pleased to confirm the prize money for the 2012 ITU World Triathlon Series, with the total prize pool surpassing two million dollars next year. 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. For more information on the series and a full prize money breakdown please click here. Events, World Championship Series, Media Centre, Press Release, Regions, Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania 2012-01-17T22:25:04+00:00 http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/itu_world_triathlon_series_worldwide_reach_doubled_after_successful_2011/ http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/itu_world_triathlon_series_worldwide_reach_doubled_after_successful_2011/#When:05:32:51Z More people competed in and watched the 2011 Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series (now rebranded as the ITU World Triathlon Series) worldwide than ever before, as the popularity of the world’s premier triathlon series continues to expand at a rapid rate. In 2011 the series started in Sydney, then moved on to Madrid, Kitzbühel, Hamburg, London, Lausanne, the Beijing Grand Final, before gaining an early start for next year with 2012 points on offer in Yokohama. The series offered up plenty of amazing moments, from Javier Gomez‘s epic comeback in Sydney, Paula Findlay‘s three wins in a row to start the season, Alistair Brownlee and Jonathan Brownlee‘s first series podium 1-2 in Madrid (followed by their overall ITU World Championship one-two), Barbara Riveros Diaz‘s first ITU World Championship in Lausanne, the golden weekend for Australia’s power couple Brad Kahlefeldt and Emma Moffatt in Hamburg, the maiden series title for Helen Jenkins in London. Then there was the incredible Grand Final performance from New Zealand’s Andrea Hewitt, who backed it up only 10 days later to win in Yokohama, and Portugal’s Joao Silva first series win to finish off 2012, also in Japan. 2011 WCS Fast Facts Total TV Hours: 917 Total Website Hits: 5.3million Total Age-Group Participants: 27,569 But looking past that thrilling racing, there are the statistics to show that the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series took some significant steps forward behind the scenes as well. TV broadcast time increased from 556 hours in 2010 to 917 hours in 2011. The TV contacts per event rose from 2.26 to 4.59 billion. Amateur athletes competing at the Series events increased from 21,280 to 27,569, and all events together could generated almost 1.4 million spectator contacts, almost double the 2010 figure. The series was entirely covered live by 17 broadcast partners. The live broadcast plus the ten 52 minute magazine shows were distributed to 42 TV partners who broadcasted into more than 160 countries and a news feed was also immediately distributed worldwide post race. For 2010 a new website design was launched and this generated 3.8 million page impressions from January to November. In 2011 it was 5.3 million page impressions within the same time. Significantly, the www.triathlonlive.tv web page gathered an extra 700,000 page impressions in 2011, up from just over 300,000 to 1.05million. The event in Hamburg was established 10-years ago and the... Events, World Championship Series, Media Centre, Press Release, Regions, Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania 2012-01-04T05:32:51+00:00 http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/vote_for_photo_of_the_year_2011_-_week_eight_yokohama/ http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/vote_for_photo_of_the_year_2011_-_week_eight_yokohama/#When:04:00:51Z It’s that time of the year again, to take a step back in time to remember this year’s Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series through the eyes of some of the world’s best sports photographers. They were on hand to capture every twist, turn, and colourful moment in the each and every world series race, but now it’s your turn to decide the official ITU Photo of the Year by voting on your favourite image below. Each weekly winner then earns the right to appear in the ITU Photo of the Year final. In addition to the contest, readers will hear from each event photographer about their favourite shot from the event, which will be published alongside the winning pictures from each week. It’s week eight of the ITU Photo of the Year, and so it’s time to head back to Yokohama. The Japanese round was initially delayed after the devastating earthquakes that hit the island nation early in 2011, but was rescheduled to fall just after the Grand Final. And a host of the world’s best triathletes came straight from Beijing to compete in the first major international sporting event in Japan since the natural distasters. In the women’s race, triathlon legend Vanessa Fernandes made her return but it was Andrea Hewitt whole stole the spotlight again, continuing on where she left off in Beijing. She claimed her second series win in devastating form, beating Australia’s Emma Moffatt and another Kiwi, Kate McIlroy, in third to make it a trans-Tasman podium. Read the race recap and watch video highlights here. In the men’s race, Portugal’s Joao Silva claimed his first series win, beating Russia’s Alexander Bryukhankov and Dmitry Polyansky who took silver and bronze respectively. Read the race recap and watch video highlights here. One of these photos has already attracted worldwide attention, but what’s your favourite? Remember to scroll to the bottom of the images and vote for your choice to determine which image from Yokohama makes it into the final of the 2011 ITU Photo of The Year. Then next week we’ll return with all eight finalists and you will have the chance to vote to decide the ultimate 2011 ITU Photo of the Year. Events, World Championship Series, Regions, Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania 2011-12-26T04:00:51+00:00 http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/2011_photo_of_the_year_beijing_voting_result/ http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/2011_photo_of_the_year_beijing_voting_result/#When:11:36:51Z The ITU Photo of the Year is a competition decided by you, the fans, but this week the response was so big it deserves a round of applause. And it was all down to two extremely popular shots, the image of Brazil’s Eduardo Lass exiting the water in the junior men’s race, and Morocco’s Mohamed Lahna crossing the finish line in his Paratriathlon world championship race. Early on in the week, Lahna was clearly ahead - but that was before the Brazilians chimed in, helped along by Lass himself who tweeted the poll. For a day Lass was ahead, before the picture of Lahna moved ahead in the final day of voting to win with 40.65 per cent of the vote. Image No.2 finished with 38.07 per cent. It’s certainly fitting in what was a huge year for Paratriathlon, this world titles were the first where athletes had the goal of competing at the Paralympics - after the sport was officially accepted into the programme for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Just a few weeks ago, the ITU officially became a member of the IPC. And your comments reflected just how inspiring Paratriathlon can be. Humpty Wong, “Pix 5 shows the most touching moment and the philosophy of Triathlon.” Smom Mifdal, “They’re all Beautiful pictures! However #5 is the richest & the most powerful of all. A true wink @ the moment where David defeated Goliath! Best photo is n°5!” Essaid Youssef, “Bonne continuation c’est un exemple de persévérance et de courage. Je suis fière de toi vive le Maroc et chapeau pour Mohammed Lahna.” Seffar Hicham, “What does not kill you make you stronger.” Now onto this week’s photographer’s choices, both Delly Carr and Janos Schmidt were on deck, which means that there are two to view. Delly’s pick was the faded outline of the Beijing 2008, for the memories it evoked of those epic Olympic Games. “It was three years ago when China put on an amazing Triathlon spectacle during the Olympic Games. Those fortunate to be there haven’t forgotten. The memories will always last forever, unlike the physical paint that slowly fades to nothingness. Camera: Nikon D3S Exposure: 1/1600 sec, F2.8 Janos has followed up on Delly’s pic from last week, and named his favourite start image for 2011. “I know Delly has chosen his swim start photo as his favourite one at last week’s competition. This is my version of the same moment, which was shot in Beijing – no sunshine, no impressive colors, but beautiful mountains covered by fog and a traditional Chinese building in the... Events, World Championship Series, Regions, Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania 2011-12-23T11:36:51+00:00 http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/best_of_2011_andrea_hewitts_grand_final_redemption/ http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/best_of_2011_andrea_hewitts_grand_final_redemption/#When:09:45:05Z Coming into the 2011 series Grand Final in Beijing it had been a case of so close, but so far, for Andrea Hewitt. A gutsy third in Sydney, fourth in Madrid, 11th in Kitzbühel, fourth in Hamburg, sixth in London and then another third in Lausanne – she had been the epitome of consistency so far. Coming into the season finale, she was just one point behind Paula Findlay in fourth spot, a podium place was well within reach. It was almost the exact same position she was in 12 months before, at the 2010 Budapest Grand Final. Except that back there, she missed out on a medal with a 22nd place finish. ALL ABOUT ANDREA Age: 29 Dextro Energy Triathlon Series Wins: 3 (2 Silver, 4 Bronze) Where she calls home: Christchurch, New Zealand You can follow Andrea on Twitter, @andreahewitt But instead of being intimidated, Hewitt used that memory to her advantage. She rode with the lead bike group, and then her and Helen Jenkins broke away early on in the run, before Hewitt sprinted away in the final few metres. While Jenkins still claimed the overall ITU World Championship, that win ensured that Hewitt stole the show in Beijing and finished with overall ITU World Championship silver. She said afterwards, she was determined not to let this one slip with last year’s finish fresh in her mind. “From the start of the run, I led the first kilometre and then as soon as Helen passed me I just hung on to her and I knew I had a little bit more energy for the last part, so I went for it soon as I came into the stadium,” Hewitt said. “Last year I was so close to getting on the podium for the world champs series, so this year coming second, it just makes up for everything.” But if Hewitt’s Beijing win was brilliant, and it was, what she did afterwards was simply remarkable. The pint-sized Kiwi backed-up just 10 days later to win in 38-degree conditions in Yokohama, with enough time to stop and high-five fans all the way down the finishing chute and still beat Emma Moffatt by 13 seconds. Her season didn’t finish there though, as she headed home for the 2011 ITU Auckland World Cup. The preview for next year’s World Triathlon Series Grand Final was not only at home, but extremely hilly course on each of the eight bike laps meant the pressure was really on. Even though she said on the bike leg afterwards, “It just kept going on and on…those hills just take everything out of the legs,” Hewitt went on to her most convincing win yet, with a margin of almost a minute separating her... Athletes, Athletes in Profile, Events, World Championship Series, Features, Regions, Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania 2011-12-20T09:45:05+00:00 http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/vote_for_photo_of_the_year_2011_-_week_seven_beijing/ http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/vote_for_photo_of_the_year_2011_-_week_seven_beijing/#When:09:53:05Z It’s that time of the year again, to take a step back in time to remember this year’s Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series through the eyes of some of the world’s best sports photographers. They were on hand to capture every twist, turn, and colourful moment in the each and every world series race, but now it’s your turn to decide the official ITU Photo of the Year by voting on your favourite image below. Each weekly winner then earns the right to appear in the ITU Photo of the Year final. In addition to the contest, readers will hear from each event photographer about their favourite shot from the event, which will be published alongside the winning pictures from each week. In week seven of this competition, it’s the big one - the 2011 Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Grand Final Beijing. In the men’s race, Alistair Brownlee captured his second ITU World Championship with another Grand Final win, he’s won each of the three finales since the series started. This time, he beat Sven Riederer over the line, while Jonathan Brownlee came in third, which was enough for overall silver. Read the race recap and watch video highlights here. In the women’s race, Helen Jenkins also claimed her second ITU World Championship, but Andrea Hewitt stole the show on the day with her most dominant performance so far in 2011. It was Hewitt’s first series win in more than two years, since Madrid in 2009. Melanie Annaheim scored her first series podium with bronze. Read the race recap and watch video highlights here. But Grand Final week is much more than just the elite races, with junior and U23 men’s and women’s world titles decided, world championships in aquathlon, the thousands of age-group athletes fighting it out in dozens of categories and the first Paratriathlon world titles since the sport was included on the programme for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. This diversity is represented in the finalist images. The other overriding theme this year were the reminders from the last event in Beijing, the 2008 Olympic Games, and that’s also evident in this gallery hand-picked by photographers Delly Carr and Janos Schmidt. Remember to scroll to the bottom of the images and vote for your favourite, to determine which image from Beijing makes it into the final of the 2011 ITU Photo of The Year. Events, World Championship Series, Regions, Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania 2011-12-18T09:53:05+00:00 http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/best_of_2011_barbara_riveros_diaz_creates_triathlon_history_in_lausanne/ http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/best_of_2011_barbara_riveros_diaz_creates_triathlon_history_in_lausanne/#When:05:08:46Z Lausanne is a notable city in the career of Barbara Riveros Diaz, and not just because it’s the city she was crowned World Champion in August of this year.  She had raced here before, back in 2006 at the ITU Junior World Championships, just her third international race. Back then an unknown 19-year old kid from Santiago, Chile finished the junior women’s race with an unimpressive 41st place showing.  But aside from the race, Riveros made an important connection that would change the course of her career.  She met Libby Burrell, Director of ITU’s Development programme, who was making decisions on where to invest attention into and decided Riveros had serious potential. ALL ABOUT BARBARA Age: 24 ITU Elite Sprint World Championships: 1 (2011) Dextro Energy Triathlon Series wins: 2 Where she calls home: Santiago, Chile You can find out more about Barbara on her website “Barbara was very unpolished at that time but I decided she was definitely worth the effort,” said Burrell.  “She has a mental ability second to none.  I’ve been coaching a long time but her resilience is something I haven’t ever seen in my life before.” Fast forward five years later, after a few years in the ITU Development programme and after qualifying for the Beijing Olympic Games, Riveros is back in Lausanne.  But this time as one of the world’s best and ready to show that very resilience in the second edition of the ITU Sprint World Championships. Racing on the same course as a junior five years earlier, Riveros did not go unnoticed this time.  Despite fading to fourth place in the final kilometre, Riveros rocketed past leader Emma Jackson down the final stretch to claim gold in one of the most stirring races of the year.  It was the first ITU World Championship ever for Chile. “Something happened that I can’t explain,” said Riveros.  “I get this new energy and I get through.  It was really magical.” But 2011 wasn’t all sunshine and roses for the Chilean star.  Not long after her splendid triumph in Lausanne, Riveros’ season came crashing down at the Grand Final in Beijing. Despite entering the race as a contender for the overall World Championship title and a front runner for a spot on the podium, Riveros staggered to a disappointing 44th place finish while letting a World Championship medal slip from her grasp.  One would think she would want to bury the memory, but instead Riveros embraced the disappointment, not... Athletes, Athletes in Profile, Events, World Championship Series, Regions, Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania 2011-12-17T05:08:46+00:00 http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/2011_photo_of_the_year_lausanne_voting_result/ http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/2011_photo_of_the_year_lausanne_voting_result/#When:03:47:46Z The decision for the Lausanne Photo of the Week was an interesting up and down battle. At first Delly Carr’s shot of men’s start over that azure blue water took an early lead. But that was quickly cut into when Dutch fans jumped on board mid-week. With hashtags like #orangeisthenewcool and plenty of Hup Holland in the comments below the voting, image No.7 of Jan van Berkel in full stretch tagging teammate Danne Boterenbrood jumped out to almost 40 per cent of the vote. But in the final day of voting, it seems Hungarian fans had caught on to Janos’ stunning image of Zsofia Kovacs creating a ripple in the water, and that started to rack up the votes. But it wasn’t enough to claim victory, eventually claiming a total of 26.29 per cent to No.7’s total of 32.74, which means that the Netherlands team are through to the ITU Photo of the Year final. The star of the photo himself, van Berkel, tweeted that he couldn’t think of a better way to describe the dynamic mixed relay format. Jan van Berkel @janvanberkel 14 Dec “There are fotos where I look better, but No.7 describes Team Triathlon better then any words.” In Lausanne, both Delly Carr and Janos Schmidt were on deck, which means that this week there are two photographer’s choices. Delly’s pick was that start image, that had initially led the voting, as it met all his criteria for sports photography perfection. “My favourite swim start image of the year. Gomez, Brownlee, Brownlee, colour, reflections, arrows, and peak of the action. For a sports photographer, it doesn’t get any better. Camera: Nikon D3S Exposure: 1/2000 sec, F2.8 ISO: 2000 While Janos was caught up in the excitement of Team Triathlon, in his choice of Melanie Annaheim screaming at her Swiss teammates. “I really enjoy the Lausanne Team Triathlon world championships because of its special atmosphere which is different from the other triathlon races in the year. Instead of fighting for themselves - as its usual at the rest of the year - athletes are in teams and to cheer for each other with devotion.” Camera: Nikon D3S Exposure: 1/2000 sec, F3.5 ISO: 400 But back to this week’s results, did you agree? See all the nominees here. Let us know your thoughts below. Check back on triathlon.org next week when we unveil the finalists for the Beijing Grand Final, and you can have your say again. Events, World Championship Series, Regions, Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania 2011-12-16T03:47:46+00:00 http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/look_back_at_the_best_of_triathlon_this_year_with_triathlon_2011/ http://www.triathlon.org/news/article/look_back_at_the_best_of_triathlon_this_year_with_triathlon_2011/#When:01:53:54Z Triathlon in 2011 had some amazing moments, and now you can relive them through the official ITU book and DVD pack - Triathlon 2011 - The Races, the Champions. Packed into almost 200 pages are some of the amazing shots from the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series rounds in Sydney, Madrid, Kitzbühel, Hamburg, London, Lausanne, the Beijing Grand Final and Yokohama, including some that have never been published before, and articles on each race. Want to read more about Paula Findlay‘s stunning hat trick to open the season, or Javier Gomez‘s epic comeback in Sydney, Andrea Hewitt‘s Grand Final domination, or any one of Alistair Brownlee‘s four series wins? It’s all summed up in here, as well as the name of every single age-group athlete who competed in the World Championships in Beijing, summaries of each ITU World Cup race and more. The stunning images include those from regular ITU series photographers Delly Carr, Janos Schmidt and Frank Wechsel. The book and DVD also celebrates some other significant moments for triathlon in 2011, including the first ITU World Champions from Chile and Poland, and the increasing growth of the dynamic Team Triathlon format. There were a record 35 teams from 28 different national federations at the 2011 Team Triathlon Championships in Lausanne, and the passion from all involved is evident here. This year was also significant for Paratriathlon, with 72 athletes competing in the first world championships since Paratriathlon was accepted into the programme for the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. To purchase the book and DVD pack, which is 29.99 EUR with free worldwide shipping, visit www.triathlonbookstore.com Events, World Championship Series, Regions, Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Oceania 2011-12-16T01:53:54+00:00