Madrid, Spain, Jan 16, 2015: The International Triathlon Union (ITU) today opened bidding for the 2017 ITU Multisport World Championship Festival. The inaugural championship event will see Duathlon, Aquathlon, Cross Triathlon and Long Distance Triathlon World Championship races contested over a ten-day celebration starting in 2017.
“Combining all of these World Championship events into one festival will serve to further strengthen and evolve them, and will be very attractive to cities wishing to attract thousands of active visitors to its city,” ITU President and IOC Member Marisol Casado said. “The post-Olympic year is an ideal time to launch the festival, as triathlon and paratriathlon will again generate a massive interest in the multisport lifestyle.”
By offering four championship races in one region, it also provides the opportunity for athletes to compete in several multisport championship races during one compact trip.
With both elite and mass participation races included in the festival, it is expected to attract upwards of 2500 age group athletes, in addition to their families and support teams.
A city could potentially benefit from 45,000 visitor nights with the average visitor expected to stay a minimum of 5.6 nights, with the races set to be contested over two weekends.*
Ideal for resort towns with access to challenging terrain, the races will be broadcast and covered internationally, bringing global exposure to the city.
Cities interested in hosting an event must submit their bid prior to ITU by 27 March, 2015. The winning cities will be announced on 15 May, 2015.
Click here for the festival promo and here for the host conditions.
Click here for more on Multisports.
**Information obtained from an independent report from the 2012 ITU Auckland Grand Final
About the International Triathlon Union (ITU):
The International Triathlon Union is the world governing body for the Olympic sport of Triathlon and all related MultiSport disciplines including Duathlon, Aquathlon, Cross Triathlon and Winter Triathlon. ITU was founded in 1989 at the first ITU Congress in Avignon, France. It has maintained its headquarters in Vancouver, Canada since then and also has offices in Lausanne, Switzerland and Madrid, Spain. It now has over 167 affiliated National Federations on five continents and is the youngest International Federation in the Olympic Games. Triathlon was awarded Olympic Games status in 1994 and made its Olympic debut in Sydney 2000. Triathlon is also featured in the Asian Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games. Paratriathlon was accepted into the Paralympic Games in 2010 and will make its Paralympic debut in Rio 2016. 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. —- ITU
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