Posted: July 4, 2007

Triathlon: Olympic Legacy Steps up for Triathlon World Cup

VANCOUVER – Once home to one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Colossus, the Greek island of Rhodes will now play host to the titans of the triathlon world as part of the 2007 BG Triathlon World Cup series. The newly added Rhodes BG Triathlon World Cup will be held on October 7th as the ninth stop of the 2007 circuit in response to the recent notification to the International Triathlon Union (ITU) of the unfortunate exit of two other world cups scheduled for 2007. Due to insufficient resources the Belo Horizonte BG Triathlon World Cup, scheduled for October 21st in Brazil, and the Aqaba BG Triathlon World Cup, scheduled for December 7th in Jordan, have been removed from the 2007 BG Triathlon World Cup calendar. The Hellenic Triathlon Federation has offered up their expertise and resources left behind after the successful organisation of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games to host a world cup in place of one of these departing events. “With hundreds of athletes fighting for every Olympic qualification point available, it was vital that a replacement be found,” commented ITU Executive Director, Loreen Barnett. “We want to capitalize on all the work done by the Greek authorities and the national federation in preparation for the Olympic Games. To have all of this knowledge and resource in the country, we feel it is a great Olympic legacy to host a world cup there.” With these changes the 2007 BG Triathlon World Cup series settles at 15 stops. With eight world cups already complete, athletes and officials take a brief hiatus before returning to action at the Kitzbuhel BG Triathlon World Cup in Austria on July 22nd. About International Triathlon Union The International Triathlon Union was founded in 1989 in Avignon, France and now has over 100 affiliated national federations around the world. Triathlon was awarded Olympic status in 1994 and the ITU is the youngest International Federation in the Olympics. For further information, visit Triathlon.org. Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest