Triathlon President Sets Sights on Re-election

(ATR) Marisol Casado tells Around the Rings she will continue her quest to develop the sport in Africa and the Middle East if re-elected as president of the International Triathlon Union.

During her presidency, the ITU has added some 30 new national federations to its membership, a significant number of which are from those regions. It now has around 160 members worldwide.

"In the next four years we need to give the right resources to these new countries and also to the smaller federations that we have had for more than 20 years," she told ATR.

The Spaniard said she was keen to "strengthen the achievements" of her presidential term, especially building on the "great success" of triathlon at the London Olympics and the World Triathlon Series.

The sport generated acres of print media coverage and plenty of TV time due to its attractive Hyde Park venue; it won an army of new fans.

So too has the World Triathlon Series – a sequence of world championship events ending with a grand final – that Casado brands "the engine of our organization". Since the inaugural season in 2009, triathlon’s star athletes and its image have benefited from increased TV coverage of the sport.

"I want to modernize and improve these," she said.

Also ahead is triathlon’s debut in the Paralympics at Rio 2016. "We need to be working hard to be ready for 2016," she admitted.

Speaking about the ITU’sfinancial welfare, Casado said the federation was in good shape.

"We have a surplus of $12 million. We are a very new federation on the [Olympic] program, only from Sydney. Before that we had zero," she said. "I think we are in a very safe position."

Casado said she was eager for the ITU to ink more sponsorship deals. Upsolut is the highest profile sponsor with a contract to attach its name to the world championship series through 2016. "We have room for more partners. I think we can put more effort into bringing more revenues," she said.

Other challenges include triathlon’s push to get the team relay onto the Rio 2016 Olympic program; it’s already in the Commonwealth Games and Youth Olympics.

"I am confident. There is a lot of work to do. "We have to be ready to fight and lobby for team relay. I think we have a very good chance to be in," she said, noting that firstly triathlon must maintain its place as one of the 25 core Olympic sports. The IOC Executive Board will decide in February which of the 26 sports on the London Games program sport gets cut.

Next week, Casado will stand for a second four-year term against Kyung-Sun Yu, an ITU vice president who heads the Asian Triathlon Confederation and serves on the organizing committee for PyeongChang 2018.

The IOC member from Spain emphasized her sport management expertise spanning 20 years, a good track record over the last four years and her dedication to triathlon.

"I think my passion shows. I am quite confident because I have been doing my homework with very good grades," she added.

Elections at the ITU Congress in Auckland, New Zealand on Oct. 23.

Reported by Mark Bisson

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.