BUSY YEAR FOR AUSTRALIA’S ELITE ITU TRIATHLETES AND PARATRIATHLETES WITH RIO ON THEIR MINDS…VIA THE GOLD AND SUNSHINE COASTS
AUSTRALIA’S elite band of triathletes and paratriathletes are preparing for what will be their busiest year ever on the International Triathlon Union circuit – with next year’s Rio Olympics and Paralympics squarely in their sights. The Gold Coast will host round three of the WTS season on April 11-12 when the cream of the world’s Olympic distance triathletes converge on the glitter strip in an ITU season that will culminate in Chicago for the 2015 Grand Final from September 15-20. Moffatt and fellow Glasgow Commonwealth Games representative Ashleigh Gentle were joined at the launch of the Gold Coast round at the picturesque Broadwater course yesterday by former ITU World Champion, Olympic silver medallist and Hall of Famer Loretta Harrop. The weekend will also feature the annual Luke Harrop Memorial age group race n what will top off a massive two-days of international triathlon with the WTS race showcased to the world on a live stream via the ITU webcast and on local television. Throughout the year they will all be racing for valuable qualifying points as Australia’s triathletes chase a maximum six quota spots for Rio as well as their own places on the team. The cream of Australia’s Paratriathletes, led by four-time ITU world champion Bill Chaffey and 2014 ITU World Champion Sally Pilbeam and including Brant Garvey, Justin Godfrey, Jack Swift, Claire McLean, and newcomer Emily Tapp will be amongst the Australian contingent on the Sunshine Coast. The hunt for qualification points in Paratriathlon will start on July 1, with the Iseo – Franciacorta ITU World Paratriathlon Event – the first race to put points on the board. Beijing bronze medallist and London Olympian Moffatt has long declared her desires to become triathlon’s first triple Olympian and she will waste no time getting into the swing of things, joining 213 Under 23 World Champion Charlotte McShane on the start line when UAE capital Abu Dhabi kick-starts the WTS season with its first foray into ITU racing. Atkinson, a two-time Olympian, climbed back into the ITU saddle at the Oceania Championships in Devonport last Saturday, finishing 10th in the Standard race, won by exciting Tasmanian 20-year-old rising star, Jake Birtwhistle. Dual Olympian and London bronze medallist, Densham, who trains in Scottsdale, Arizona in the USA, arrived home last weekend and will also head to the Sunshine Coast to join a host of Australian youngsters in the Mooloolaba World Cup field.
ITU’s 2018 highlights reveal busy year for triathlon
The new year once again brings with it a calendar of events to whet the appetites of triathlon fans the world over. ITU competitions will traverse the continents bringing the thrill of competition to all corners of the globe, including 8 World Triathlon Series, the Mixed Relay Series, 17 World Cup and a host of Paratriathlon races as well as major multi-sport competitions such as the Commonwealth, Youth Olympic Games and ITU’s World Multisport Championships Festival. JanuaryThe year begins in grand style in the heart of Romania, when Cheile Gradistei’s Resort Fundata hosts the Winter Triathlon World Championships from 26-28 January. All of the athletes will be keen to get 2018 off to a positive start in the UAE, before attentions turn back to the World Cup with two races – the first in Mooloolaba, Australia and the second in New Plymouth, New Zealand. May A busy May sees the Aguilas Paratriathlon World Cup take place in Spain from 5-6 May, while over in China the same weekend the Chengdu World Cup race will see another Super Sprint format across two semi-finals and a final. The 2018 Paratriathlon World Cup moves on to Besancon in the east of France on 16-17 June, and the World Paratriathlon Series event in Iseo, Italy wraps up an intense few weeks of action across the sport. ITU World Titles will once again be up for grabs in duathlon, aquathlon, cross triathlon, aquabike and long distance triathlon, in a celebration of the growth of the sport. AugustThe busy May-July period cools off a touch in early August, before the Lausanne Triathlon and Paratriathlon World Cups take the action to Switzerland from 18-19 August before the WTS series hots up once more in Montreal from 25-26 of the month as the athletes jockey for precious ranking points in their final race before the 2018 Grand Final. World Cup races will be held in Sarasota USA, the Ecuadorian city of Salinas and South Korea’s Tongyeong as the season reaches its climax, and the ITU Paratriathlon year also closes out in Funchal, Portugal on 27-28 October. NovemberThe Japanese city of Miyazaki brings the World Cup season to a close in style for the third year running on 3 November, as this year’s 18-stop tour culminates with all of the athletes looking to round off 2018 with a podium finish and head to the close season to reflect on their achievements across what will be a packed year of world-class events.
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