Asia Triathlon

On September 29, the Japanese Triathlon Union (JTU) and ITU held an important meeting ahead of the World Triathlon Yokohama for paratriathletes and their guides. Attendees met with ITU President and IOC Member Marisol Casado and ITU Sport Director Gergely Markus, as well as ITU Technical Committee member Kiriyo Suzuki and ITU Women’s Committee chair Tomoko Wada to discuss progressions made in paratriathlon.

Wada served as a faciliator for the meeting, which was attended by nearly 40 participants. The attendees engaged in an enthusiastic discussion that included questions on classification systems and impairment categories.

Following Casado’s remarks on ITU’s inclusion and gender-equality policy, as well as her strong commitment to paratriathlon, Markus also explained the development of paratriathlon and expectations for the sport of paratriathlon at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The meeting was warmly welcomed and highly appreciated by the participants, which included Japanese Paralympians Mami Sato and Atsushi Yamamoto, who each competed in long jump at the London Paralympics this summer. According to JTU, “The paratriathlon movement is successfully on the right track and is the strongest ever under ITU’s management.”