Tri goes TV
Less then 24 hours after the completion of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games triathlon, today the ITU announced an innovative new platform for the sport by establishing a pioneering new series that will is hoped to take triathlon to new heights. The new format will consist of six World Championship events plus a Grand Final every year, extending the current single World Championships event into a series.
Precise details of what this means for the current format are somewhat unclear, as is the location for each of these events, but it's assumed that the ITU World Cup be superceded.
The punchier format better lends itself to broadcasting, and organisers are confident that live international television coverage will feature, something sadly lacking to date in triathlon.
"This is a great step forward for triathlon and it is exciting for triathlon to be moving in this direction," said Australia's recent gold medallist Emma Snowsill. "For us the athletes, this is
phenomenal. The benefit of live TV is it creates a proper season. People will know when to watch and when to tune into triathlon."
As Germany's new Olympic champion Jan Frodeno adds, "This ... model is ideal as having 100,000 spectators and TV makes it easier for us to market ourselves and as it snowballs the top athletes will want to come."
Each World Championship event leading up to the Grand Final is expected to also integrate a age groupers and youth elements alongside the elite races, with the ITU Age-Group World Championships will be staged at the annual Grand Final event along with Junior and Under23 competitions.
