Posted: April 7, 2005

Triathlon: Official opening of ITU Headquarters

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) officially opened its new doors to the world today, as the only international Olympic sports federation to have its headquarters in Canada. Indeed, triathlon is one of only four federations based outside of Europe, with the others being judo in Japan, taikwondo in Korea and baseball in the US. The international sport federation was conceived and founded in the late eighties by a group of sport enthusiasts at the Alta Lake Sports Club in North Vancouover, led by Les McDonald.

The ITU was formed in 1989, the year of the first annual Triathlon World Championships. Since that time, Vancouver has been the centre stage for the development of the sport from the grassroots to the Olympic podium. Today the ITU hosts 14 World Cup triathlons in every corner of the globe, 6 multi-sport championships, and dozens of other multi-sport events attracting thousands of competitors and millions of television viewers in more than 90 countries.

Triathlon was added to the Olympic programme at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, making it the fastest ever sport to achieve that pinnacle. Appropriately, for its induction, Simon Whitfield took home gold for Canada. Triathlon is now one of the fastest growing and most charismatic sports on the Olympic Programme.

“We are so proud to be part of a community that promotes such an active lifestyle and sport.” said ITU President, Les McDonald, “We are very excited to continue to bring our sport to the world and we have high expectations for triathlon in the future. From our humble beginnings as the Alta Lake Sports Club we envisioned the ITU as one day being a respected international Olympic sport federation. That day is here.”

The continued success of triathlon at the Athens Olympic Games has ensured its future and established a strong foundation for international growth. The ITU is now in a more secure financial position and – for the first time – can operate from a fully staffed office, rather than the basement of its executive director.

The new contact details for ITU are:

Address: 
998 Harbourside Drive, Suite 221
North Vancouver, British Columbia
V7P 3T2, CANADA, 
Telephone: 1.604 904 9248
Fax: 1 604 608 3195
Email: ituhdq@triathlon.org
Website: www.triathlon.org.