Itu Revamps Triathlon World Champs
The International Triathlon Union has announced that it is revamping its flagship World Championships from a single day event into a series of competitions.
From 2009 the new format will consist of six World Championship events plus a Grand Final creating a global series. From 2010 the series will be expanded to a maximum of eight events in total.
The new series will begin in March next year, with events to take place on a monthly basis until September, except in summer Olympic years when the Grand Final will be moved to October or November.
The International Triathlon Union, the governing body of the sport, will collaborate with Lagardère Sports, the sports division of French media giant Lagardère to create and deliver the new series.
Rights agency SPORTFIVE will be directly responsible for the sale of global sponsorship rights for the series, as well as centrally managing TV production and distribution.
UPSOLUT, the Lagardère-owned agency behind events such as the 2007 Hamburg BG Triathlon World Championships in Germany and cycling’s Tour of Germany will help co-ordinate and organise the events applying the standards achieved in Hamburg as a global model.
ITU is in the process of evaluating host cities for World Championship Series events. The full schedule and calendar is planned to be announced in early November. The events are expected to take place in the heart of city centres and include mass participation races.
