Endurance events company Limelight Sports Club and Dutch triathlon series Challenge Family have partnered to rebrand the world’s biggest city centre triathlon.
The partnership will see the London Triathlon rebranded to ‘Challenge London’, and become the first ever Challenge Family event to take place in London.
A new format will also see a new distance introduced – a middle-distance race – in place of the previous Olympic Plus distance.
The middle-distance race will feature a 1.9km swim, 80km bike and finish with a half marathon on the same iconic course already enjoyed by thousands of triathletes over the years.
The event takes place on 6th August 2023.
Craig Dews, Chief Executive Officer of LimeLight Sports, said, “The London Triathlon has found a new home, thanks to this brilliant partnership with Challenge Family. Challenge London will continue to be the world’s biggest city centre triathlon, seeing all of the famous sites the capital has to offer, but this year with a new element of our blue riband event, the Middle distance, which we hope will bring experienced triathletes from across the world.”
Jort Vlam, Chief Executive Officer of Challenge Family, added, “We are very excited to partner with the team at London Triathlon to bring middle distance racing to the heart of one of the world’s most historic cities and for London to join Challenge Wales on our UK race calendar. For athletes to be able to race past some of the most iconic buildings in the world is almost unheard of in long course racing – Challenge London will without doubt deliver an unforgettable triathlon experience in line with our commitment to ‘all about the athlete’. We very much look forward to working with the established Challenge London team to set a new standard in middle distance racing.”
London-based athlete social media agency 9024 Media has launched 9024 Academy, a new programme designed to educate academy players on the use social media platforms.
The initiative has been rolled out as a pilot over the past two years, working with a number of professional clubs including Chelsea FC. The agency has claimed its results have included ‘significant follower growth and image risk reduction’.
9024 will be launching a new semester ahead of the upcoming football season and will begin a process of recruiting international club academies with its vision of creating ‘a generation of academy players safe and aware online’.
EFL League Two champions Leyton Orient has partnered with Incite Consulting.
The agreement sees the UK consultancy firm become a sponsor of the North Stand at Brisbane Road for the next three seasons.
Incite Consulting will benefit from branding displayed across the North Stand and will collaborate with The O’s on a range of community engagement initiatives over the coming years.
Billy James-Elliott, Founder of Incite Consultancy, said, “I am absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Leyton Orient in this way. As a fan of the club for so many years, I am honoured to be able to support Orient in this manner and contribute to the club’s future success. This partnership is a testament to our shared commitment to community engagement and a deep understanding of the importance of local support.”
Ravi Patel, Chief Commercial Officer at Leyton Orient, commented, “We are delighted to be able to announce Incite Consulting as a sponsor of Leyton Orient Football Club. From the moment I met Billy you could tell this is a childhood dream for him, whilst Incite Consulting is going from strength to strength it’s also important to him to showcase his brand to a wider audience.
“There is no doubt Billy, and his team will help us on and off the pitch and very much looking forward to working with him on some future initiatives here at the O’s.
“The partnership between Incite Consulting and Leyton Orient is a testament to the power of collaboration and the importance of supporting local communities. As Incite Consulting looks to continue its growth and success, this partnership will play a significant role in achieving these goals.”
EFL League One football club Lincoln City has announced a three-year extension with scouting platform Non-League Gems.
Lincoln City, which has signed numerous players from the non-league tiers this season, will be provided Non League Gem’s analytics tool that helps spot players with potential in the lower divisions
Peter Chadwick, Founder of Non-League Gems and part of this year’s Sport Industry NextGen programme, said, “After a successful first year of working together, we are pleased to have reached an agreement to extend the partnership for an additional three years.
“We use our predictive modelling scouting software to unearth emerging talent from the non-league market.”
Jez George, Director of Football at Lincoln City FC, added, “As a club, we are always looking to unearth young talent and then develop them within our environment and give them an opportunity of the platform to play in our first team. This is a fantastic partnership for us to do that in a really cost-effective way.
“Ben House is a typical example of a player with potential in the National League who has quickly developed into a top League One centre-forward and we know there are others who can emulate him. Our agreement with NLG and access to their database gives us another tool to find them.”
