Posted: May 29, 2006

Triathlon: Nations Challenge hosted at Ironman Korea

Standard Chartered sponsors the Nations Challenge

Seoul, Korea:. Top triathletes from around the world will be competing in the first ever Nations Challenge, as part of the 2006 Standard Chartered Ironman Korea, to be held on 27 August in Seogwipo City, Jeju Island.

The Nations Challenge is an event for nations to pit their best triathletes against each other. There will be a male and a female race. Athletes compete in five regional categories, with prizes for the top three finishers in each region and a cup for each regional winner. The top finishers in the male and female categories from among the regions will take home the Nations Challenge Cup. Standard Chartered is putting up an additional prize pool of US$30,000 specifically for the Nations Challenge.

Standard Chartered Bank’s offices from 56 countries around the world will look to sponsor the top triathletes from their countries to compete in the Standard Chartered Ironman Korea.

Standard Chartered Bank expects the Nations Challenge to be a good opportunity to introduce and popularize Ironman in countries where triathlon is a new or developing sport, particularly in Asia, Africa and Middle East, and to recognise the best athletes in each of five world regions.

Ironman Korea Triathlon is an annual athletic event hosted by Seogwipo City and IMG (International Management Group), featuring three challenging events: swimming (3.8 Km), cycling (180.2 Km) and running (42.195 Km). Ironman Korea started in 1991 and last year over 1,000 athletes took part from 25 countries competing for 50 world championship places.

Regions & Race

Region 1	Southeast and South Asia
Region 2	North East Asia (including Korea, Japan and China)
Region 3	Europe and Oceania
Region 4	Americas (including USA, Canada and Mexico)
Region 5	Middle East & Africa

There is both a Male and Female race.

Prize Pool

	Overall Winner		Region 1		Region 2		Region 3		Region 4		Region 5
	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female	Male	Female
1st	$1,250	$1,250	$1,250	$1,250	$1,250	$1,250	$1,250	$1,250	$1,250	$1,250	$1,250	$1,250
2nd	$750	$750	$750	$750	$750	$750	$750	$750	$750	$750	$750	$750
3rd	$500	$500	$500	$500	$500	$500	$500	$500	$500	$500	$500	$500
Total	$2,500	$2,500	$2,500	$2,500	$2,500	$2,500	$2,500	$2,500	$2,500	$2,500	$2,500	$2,500

*Prize money is subject to redistribution formula.

Invitation Procedure
- Standard Chartered Bank will invite in conjunction with the local sports association (where appropriate) a national triathlete (male or female or both) to compete at the Standard Chartered Ironman Korea.
- Invitations will include: return airfare, up to 5 nights hotel stay, Ironman Korea entry fee waiver, and a meal allowance and the cost would be born by the local Standard Chartered country.
- For Non-SCB countries, costs will need to be borne by local sports association or by the individual athlete.
- Athletes already participating from a particular country can request to be entered into the Nations Challenge as the best triathlete from that country by sending their triathlon resume to Erica Kang at Erica.JY.Kang@scfirstbank.com.
- The registration will be closed 1st of July.
- Standard Chartered will have the final say on Nations Challenge participants.

Invitee Obligations
- Provide Standard Chartered Nations Challenge with his or her athletic profile including race and headshot photo (with rights for Standard Chartered to use).
- Agree to devote a reasonable amount of time for telephone media interviews if requested.
- Attend all Standard Chartered Ironman Korea official functions including media conference if requested.
- Agree to devote a reasonable amount of time for a race TV interview if requested.

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