World’s Largest International Triathlon Comes to Hyde Park

8,500 triathletes will take their position under starter’s orders in Hyde Park, London next month at the PruHealth World Triathlon Grand Final from 11-15 September.

The event, which will see the world’s top athletes, including Olympic Champion Alistair Brownlee competing for the world championship title, has more nations represented than ever before.

Nearly 5,000 overseas athletes representing 83 nations will travel to London to compete against 3,500 Brits as part of a number of World Championship races. They will be joined by athletes, some of whom have never done a triathlon before, competing in a mass participation race on Saturday 14 September.

Olympic gold medallist Alistair Brownlee and his younger brother, Jonathan, the reigning World Champion will race for the Elite Men’s title. They will be competing against the best triathletes from around the world including Javier Gomez, (Spain) Mario Mola (Spain) Richard Murray (South Africa) and Joao Silva (Portugal).

The women’s elite event will see Anne Haug (Germany) Jodie Stimpson (UK), Gwen Jorgensen (USA), Non Stanford (UK) battle it out to take the title.

The finals will also be a fantastic opportunity for paratriathletes to race in a major event as they prepare for their first paralympic triathlon on the road to the Rio Games in 2016.

The huge festival of sport, which forms part of UK Sport’s Gold Event Series aiming to bring 70 of the world’s most prestigious sporting events to the UK, doesn’t stop with the boundaries of Hyde Park though as Trafalgar Square will be transformed into a triathlon ’live site’. Visitors to “Triathlon Square” will be able to try out all elements of one of the fastest growing sports in the UK. From swimming in the endless pool that will be in situ for the week of the event, to cycling on a static bike to running on a treadmill. There will also be a specially designed triathlon competition for children.

“We are thrilled by the huge turnout in London, as the record number of nations represented demonstrates a marked growth in our sport worldwide,” said ITU President and IOC Member Marisol Casado. “The athletes are also in for a special treat, as they’ll get to compete on much the same course as the 2012 Olympians.”

Iain Edmondson, Head of Major Events at London and Partners, the Mayor’s official promotional organisation said: “It will be fantastic to see so many professional and amateur athletes coming to London to take part in the triathlon finals. With competitors from over 80 nations taking to the streets of London over five days this event has a truly worldwide flavour boasting the largest number of international participants for any mass-participation event held in the capital.

“There’s an amazing amount for spectators to see and do whether it’s lining the route to cheer on the greats or visiting the live site at Trafalgar Square with a global audience in excess of 25 million watching from home. We want people to come along, soak up the atmosphere and watch some superb athletes in action.

“Hosting the event represents another big sporting win for London demonstrating our commitment to deliver a legacy for Major Events from both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

The online media accreditation procedure for written press and photographers is open here:
http://london.triathlon.org/media



Schedule



Wednesday 11 September

09:00 - 13:00 Aquathlon World Championship

19:30 - 21:30 Opening Ceremony


Thursday 12 September

08:00 - 17:00 Junior and U23 World Champs


Friday 13 September

08:00 - 12:00 Age-Group World Champs

14:00 - 18:00 Paratriathlon


Saturday 14 September

08:30 - 10:30 Elite Women World Champs

11:30 - 20:00 Open Race


Sunday 15 September

07:00 - 13:30 Age-Group World Champs

13:30 - 15:30 Elite Men World Champs

19:00 - 22:00 Closing Ceremony
Notes to Editors

About UK Sport

UK Sport is the nation’s high performance sports agency responsible for the strategic investment of a record £355million of National Lottery and Exchequer funding in 44 Olympic and Paralympic sports preparing for Rio 2016.

UK Sport’s Gold Event Series will invest £27million of National Lottery funding to support the bidding and staging costs of major events on home soil, as well as providing specialist support to organisers. Events are supported for their likely performance impact on GB athletes, but also to maximise the wider sporting, social, cultural, economic and environmental benefits.

The Gold Event Series will aim to bring over 70 of the world’s most prestigious sporting events to the UK, including 36 World and European Championships. This ambitious programme will support British athletes’ preparation and qualification for Rio 2016, while generating approximately £287 million of additional expenditure in host cities and regions and bringing over 250,000 overseas visitors to the UK. Events already secured include the 2017 World Athletics and IPC Athletics Championships to be staged in the London Olympic Stadium and the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships at the Hydro Arena in Glasgow. www.uksport.gov.uk/events



About London & Partners

London & Partners is the official promotional organisation for London attracting and delivering value to businesses, students and visitors. London & Partners is a not-for-profit public private partnership, funded by the Mayor of London and our network of commercial partners. Our remit is to drive leisure and business visitors as well as bidding to secure major events in London, we can unlock the city for overseas businesses who want to set up or expand in London and we promote the capital’s world class universities to international students.

Major Events team at London & Partners
The major events team at London & Partners provides advice and support at every stage of the process – from bidding, to event delivery, to evaluation – with a specially dedicated team to help rights holders from around the globe ’unlock’, secure or choose London as their venue for their event. The London & Partners Major Events team is also developing a programme of major events for the city which build on the legacy of the Olympic & Paralympic Games, including Prudential RideLondon.

For more information visit http://www.londonandpartners.com/majorevents





About British Triathlon

British Triathlon is the Governing Body for the sport in Great Britain. It is responsible for raising the profile and delivering elite performance for Triathlon, Paratriathlon, Duathlon and Aquathlon in Great Britain. Triathlon is a fast growing, dynamic and modern Olympic sport with talented world class athletes, coaches and support staff, focused around delivering world-class events and medal winning performances.

Great Britain is home to the 2012 Olympic Champion (Alistair Brownlee) and bronze medallist (Jonathan Brownlee) as well as numerous current world champions www.britishtriathlonmedia.org/current-world-champions amongst a strong squad of world ranked elite triathletes, and emerging talent from our youth development programmes. British Triathlon enables paratriathletes to deliver world-class success, raising the profile of paratriathlon in the build up to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

There are over 850 triathlon events conducted in Great Britain each year including the British Triathlon Super Series, which attracts athletes from all over the world. British Triathlon is committed to being a leader in environmental awareness in sport, protecting the environment in which we operate today and in the future.

British Triathlon aims to promote excellence in our sport, and create opportunities for everyone to achieve their personal triathlon challenges. Tata Steel is the Corporate Partner of British Triathlon and is proud to be enabling the sport of triathlon. www.britishtriathlon.org

British Triathlon is a beneficiary of the UK Sport Lottery funded World Class Programmes (WCP). The programmes focus on performance sport with the aim of achieving sporting excellence on the world stage. Further information can be found on the UK Sport website at www.uksport.gov.uk.

Visit www.britishtriathlonmedia.org for downloadable image galleries, detailed athlete profiles, results, stats and information.



About PruHealth

PruHealth is a leading private medical insurance and Vitality wellness programme provider which launched in the UK in 2004 in response to a growing need for consumer-directed private medical insurance products. It is a joint venture between UK insurer, Prudential and Discovery, a listed company operating in the health, wellness, life, investment and financial services markets in South Africa, UK, USA and China.

The Vitality programme helps people understand how they can improve their own personal health, makes it cheaper and easier for them to get healthy and gives rewards to keep them motivated, through a range of tools and discounts.

PruHealth has received many industry awards, including the Best Individual PMI Provider and Best Online Intermediary Service (Health Insurance Awards 2012), Best Group PMI Provider (Cover Excellence Awards 2012), Most Innovative New Product (Health Insurance Awards 2011), Best Use of Marketing to Intermediaries (Health Insurance Awards 2011), Most Trusted PMI Provider (Moneywise Awards 2010), Best Individual PMI Provider (Health Insurance Awards 2010 and Cover Excellence Awards 2010) and Best PMI Provider (Moneyfacts Awards 2009).

About Upsolut Sports UK

Upsolut is one of the world’s leading sports marketing and event management agencies and part of the Lagardère Unlimited group (IEC in Sports, SPORTFIVE and World Sport Group). Upsolut specialises in the promotion, marketing, organisation and delivery of televised mass participation endurance sports (triathlon, cycling and swimming) for elite and age-group participants. Upsolut supports the ITU World Triathlon Series and shares its knowledge to ensure high standards and quality. In addition to providing the ITU World Triathlon Series with marketing expertise, Upsolut produces live TV coverage and international TV distribution through the worldwide sales network of Lagardère Unlimited.

For more information visit: www.upsolut.de

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.

For more information, visit: www.triathlon.org