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Year-end message from President Casado, wishing everyone all the best in 2011

By Masa Takaya | 18 Dec, 2010

This has certainly been a momentous year for ITU and the entire triathlon family.  I am so proud of the many milestones we achieved together.

First off, it was a great honour for me to become an IOC Member in February at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, a historic event in the home city of ITU’s Headquarters.  I am extremely grateful to President Rogge and the IOC family for their warmest support. 


© IOC/Richard Juilliart

This was the second year of the Dextro Energy Triathlon ITU World Championship Series and the season concluded with enormous success.  Congratulations to Javier Gomez and Emma Moffatt—for each winning their second World Championship—and to all our incredible athletes for their inspiring performances.  We also thank everyone involved who made the 2010 Series events possible: the host cities, organising committees, ITU’s organisation and marketing partner Upsolut, and the global sponsors and partners Dextro Energy, Suunto, Skins, Specialized and Laureus.

This year we witnessed the beginning of a new era in the Olympic Movement with the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.  It was particularly special for triathlon when Yuka Sato won the women’s triathlon, becoming the first ever Youth Olympic Games gold medallist.  Another historical milestone in Singapore was the introduction of Team Triathlon.  The exciting super-sprint mixed relay marked the first time the format was featured in a Major Games.  We will work hard towards our goal of seeing Team Triathlon in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

But one new addition we will for sure see in Rio 2016 is Paratriathlon, which was welcomed to the Paralympic Games.  This is a significant milestone for Paratriathlon to become a truly universal sport.  ITU is committed to the development of competitions from entry to elite levels.  Thanks to everyone for joining the campaign, particularly the National Federations that committed to sending athletes to the 2011 ITU Paratriathlon World Championships in Beijing.

This year our family of National Federations expanded when seven countries were approved as full members of ITU.  We welcome Morocco, US Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, Cambodia, Iraq, Oman and Iceland and look forward to working together and developing triathlon in your respective countries.

Looking back on the season, ITU is proud to confirm that no positive cases have been found in ITU sanctioned events in 2010, which means our incredible athletes are reaching new heights through sheer hard work and determination.  We are grateful to our Anti-Doping team and the National Federations for their efforts in keeping triathlon clean and maintaining the integrity of the sport.

As the International Federation of Triathlon, ITU is keen to drive the research and education in sport science.  The first step is the inaugural ITU World Conference on Science and Triathlon set to take place next March in Alicante, Spain.

For 2011 and beyond, all our hard work and dedication will not cease or even slow down.  We are energized by our achievements from this past year and excited for the future and many more milestones ahead of us. 

Thanks to the entire triathlon family that has been working together for more than 30 years.  Triathlon is truly an inspirational sport to youth and we are dedicated to continually developing within the Olympic and Paralympic Movement.  As President of ITU, I am committed to building the whole triathlon community and developing the sport in every corner of the world.

Wishing you the best this holiday season and all the best in 2011!