IPC Pens ASICS Deal -- Sponsor Spotlight

(ATR) The International Paralympic Committee announces ASICS as an official supplier until the end of 2020.

Under the agreement, ASICS will immediately begin providing official sportswear and shoes for the IPC and the Independent Paralympic Athletes Teams at official events. Beginning in 2019, this will include all officials of World Para Swimming, World Para Powerlifting, and World Shooting Para Sport at major events, including the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

In addition, in a move that will benefit developing NPCs, ASICS will supply competition kits for around 300 Para athletes for Tokyo 2020.

"This is an agreement that not only benefits the IPC and the summer World Para Sports, but the wider Paralympic Movement," IPC President Andrew Parsons said in a statement.

"We are particularly delighted at the commitment of ASICS to support the Independent Paralympic Athletes team and a number of developing NPCs on the road to Tokyo 2020."

ASICS has been the official supplier of World Para Athletics since September 2016 and is also a Gold Partner of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

LA Fitness Working to Grow Triathlon

USA Triathlon is teaming up with LA Fitness as the Time to Tri Indoor Triathlon Series, presented by ROKA, comes to Arizona for the next two weekends.

Five 60-minute indoor triathlons will be taking place at LA Fitness locations in the Phoenix and Tucson areas on July 15 and July 22.

The series is intended to introduce first-timers to the sport of triathlon, part of the industry-wide Time to Tri initiative launched in January by USA Triathlon and IRONMAN to grow the sport by 100,000 new participants by the end of 2020.

Indoor triathlons are a key component of Time to Tri, offering an approachable first triathlon experience for those who are new to the sport. Each LA Fitness event features a 10-minute pool swim, 30-minute stationary bike ride and 20-minute treadmill run, and participants complete each leg at their own pace.

"Through this pilot program anyone can become a triathlete in just 60 minutes, an accomplishment that will lead many to hopefully continue in the sport through other avenues,"said Rocky Harris, USA Triathlon CEO, in a statement.

"Partnering with LA Fitness allows us to reach active people in an untapped community who may be inspired to give our sport a try."

Registration for the Arizona events is now open at mytimetotri.com/indoorseries. Those in other parts of the United States can visitusatriathlon.org/tri60 to find other USATri60 events.

IMMAF Launches Streaming Platform

The mixed martial arts federation partnered with Sportradar to create immaf.tv, which will air amateur MMA matches.

Coverage officially began in June with the live stream of the European Open Championships in Bucharest. Those matches are still available to view on-demand.

Along with that stream, "historic matches" from 2014-2018 will be free to view. Future IMMAF Championship matches will be part of the platform’s library.

IMMAF also provides free original content. Current features include IMMAF’s pursuit to gain Olympic recognition and an in-depth look at the safety of the cage and competitive surface.

Kerrith Brown, president of IMMAF, said in a statement, "The launch ofimmaf.tvis another fantastic milestone forIMMAF, allowing us to connect in real time with MMA fans worldwide. Finally, we can show the world that our elite, amateur MMA tournaments are worthy of the Olympic programme. MMA fans will be impressed at the skill level of the new generation of athletes coming up through IMMAF, set to be the stars of tomorrow."

Written by Jeffrey Farekand Gerard Farek

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