Following a five-year partnership between Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC) and the International Triathlon Union (ITU), the International Federation for Triathlon, World Triathlon Series (WTS), will be held in the U.A.E. capital from 2015-2019.
The pinnacle triathlon circuit, contested by the best Olympic competitors, will be centred in and around the city's stunning Corniche from March 6th-7th.
"The World Triathlon Series represents the ‘best of the best', like Abu Dhabi, with the sports elite competing in a 10-city circuit, all striving to become World Champion and qualify for the Olympic Games," said Aref Al Awani, General Secretary, Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
"We envisage a host of benefits emerging from this partnership. These include further positioning Abu Dhabi as a destination for world-class sporting events, additional destination exposure among an influential client base and encouragement of our own youth to join in one of the world's fastest-growing Olympic sports. By implementing such objectives, we are reflecting ADSC's mission to work on the integration between sports and society in order to create a healthy and sportive environment for the community to achieve the plans, ambitions and expectations of the Abu Dhabi Government.
"This partnership is a natural progression of the success the U.A.E. capital has achieved over the past five years with its own Abu Dhabi International Triathlon, which was organised by Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority and quickly attained the status of the world's most glamorous triathlon attracting entries from Olympic and celebrity TV stars." This year, the Abu Dhabi International Triathlon, which was jointly won by the U.K.'s Brownlee brothers, reigning Olympic Champion Alistair and his brother Jonathan, 2012 World Champion, was contested by a field of 2,400, including the Bold and The Beautiful leading lady, Katherine Kelly Lang.
Around 2,400 athletes from 100 countries are expected to join the elite athletes in Abu Dhabi next March to compete over two courses; the ‘Olympic' distance of a 1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10km run, or the ‘Sprint' distance of a 0.5km swim, 20km bike and a 5km run.
The event will and be headquartered at the Abu Dhabi Sailing and Yacht Club.
The elite event will feature a ‘swim start' off the Volvo Ocean Race yacht pontoons on Abu Dhabi Corniche with the top 65 men and top 65 women on the ITU World Series rankings competing for line honours in the opening event of the 2015 season.
"This is a partnership which represents a meeting of like minds in terms of ambitions," said Marisol Casado, ITU President. "Abu Dhabi is a world class city and offers a fantastic combination of beautiful water and superb road infrastructure that is entirely suitable for a WTS event.
"In our talks leading up to the partnership it became apparent that Abu Dhabi wants to take its triathlon to the next level and expand the sport's reach in much the same way as ITU is determined to progress the sport internationally." The 2015 Abu Dhabi event will come hot on the heels of the U.A.E. capital's hosting of the Volvo Ocean Race from December 12th, 2014 to January 3rd, 2015, the 6th Mubadala World Tennis Championship from January 1st-3rd and the 10th anniversary of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship from January 15th-18th.
Source: WAM