ITU technical team visits city to check Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds plans

A delegation of special international guests visited Leeds this week to see how the city is preparing to host a leg of next year’s prestigious ITU World Triathlon Series.

A team of senior technical officials from the International Triathlon Union (ITU) were in Leeds to look at the proposed route and arrangements for the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds event which takes place on June 11-12 next year.

The delegation was led by ITU World Triathlon Series manager Kris Gemmell, along with ITU technical operations senior manager Thanos Nikopoulos and ITU technical delegate Stefane Mauris. They were joined by officials from British Triathlon, Lagardère Sports and officers and representatives of Leeds City Council.

The visit began in Roundhay Park, venue for the opening 1500-metre swim section of the event, before following the proposed route of the 40-kilometre bike element into the city centre, where the world’s best triathletes will complete circuits before finishing with a 10-kilometre run passing many of the city centre’s iconic landmarks.

Organised by British Triathlon, Lagardère Sports and Leeds City Council and supported by UK Sport, the event will be the final chance to see Great Britain’s leading triathletes in action on home soil before they compete at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

After the visit ITU President and IOC Member Marisol Casado said:

“The city of Leeds has been steadfast in its excitement and preparation for its debut on the World Triathlon Series next year. The ITU’s technical delegation was pleased to see the progress that has been made for what we feel will be an excellent event.”

Leader of Leeds City Council Councillor Judith Blake said:

“We were delighted to welcome the delegation from the ITU and our colleagues at British Triathlon to Leeds and we are very pleased with how the visit went and the positive feedback we received.

“A lot of fantastic work is going on by all the partners involved to ensure this will be one of the standout events of next summer and another wonderful must-see weekend for Leeds.”

Chief executive of British Triathlon Jack Buckner said:

“The Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds is getting ever closer and the ITU’s visit to the city is an important step on our journey to delivering an inspirational event in 2016. Demand for entries into the event has been terrific and with only a small number of places left on the Sunday, Leeds is set to be a landmark occasion for the sport.”

Alongside the elite races, approximately 5,000 amateur triathletes will take on the challenge of completing the same course on the same day as the world’s best in the mass-participation elements of the event.

Final places are available in the sprint and beginner distances as well as the team relay options, meaning individuals of all fitness levels can take part. Visit http://leeds.triathlon.org/ for details and entry options.

There will also be activities and events taking place on Saturday 11 June, offering people of all ages a sample of triathlon in Roundhay Park the day before the main event.

For the latest information on the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds, which is part of UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded #EveryRoadtoRio events series, visit http://leeds.triathlon.org/ or follow on social media via Facebook and Twitter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Helen Gorman on 07739 456644 or helengorman@britishtriathlon.org or Tom Goldspink on 07795415452 tomgoldspink@britishtriathlon.org

NOTES TO EDITORS:

About British Triathlon

British Triathlon is the governing body for the sport in Great Britain. It is responsible for raising the profile and delivering elite performance for Triathlon, Paratriathlon, Duathlon and Aquathlon in Great Britain. Triathlon is a fast growing, dynamic and modern Olympic sport with talented world class athletes, coaches and support staff, focused around delivering world-class events and medal winning performances. Visit www.britishtriathlon.org for more information.

Visit www.britishtriathlonmedia.org for downloadable image galleries, detailed athlete profiles, results, stats and information.

About Leeds City Council

Leeds City Council is the second-largest local authority in England with a population of around 776,000. Leeds has a very proud sporting heritage and we are committed to encouraging sport as a way of promoting the city and healthy lifestyles, as well as bringing world-class events. This can be seen in the success of the 2014 Tour de France Grand Départ and the forthcoming Rugby World Cup 2015, building towards our ambition to become European Capital of Culture 2023. The council works in partnership with the city’s three universities, national governing bodies and key stakeholders to develop sport from grassroots to elite level. Visit www.leeds.gov.uk for more information.

About Lagardère Sports

Lagardère Sports is one of the world's leading sports and entertainment agencies and forms part of Lagardère Sports & Entertainment. The events division of Lagardère Sports specialises in the promotion, marketing, organisation and delivery of televised events. Its business in the UK includes the delivery of mass participation endurance sports (triathlon and cycling) for elite and lifestyle participants. Events include the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds and Velothon Wales.

About the International Triathlon Union (ITU)

The International Triathlon Union is the world governing body for the Olympic sport of Triathlon and all related MultiSport disciplines including Duathlon, Aquathlon, CrossTriathlon and Winter Triathlon.

ITU was founded in 1989 at the first ITU Congress in Avignon, France. It has maintained its headquarters in Vancouver, Canada since then and also has offices in Lausanne, Switzerland and Madrid,Spain. It now has over 167 affiliated National Federations on five continents and is the youngest International Federation in the Olympic Games. Triathlon was awarded Olympic Games status in 1994 and made its Olympic debut in Sydney 2000.

Triathlon is also featured in the Asian Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games. Paratriathlon was accepted into the Paralympic Games in2010 and will make its Paralympic debut in Rio 2016. ITU is proudly committed to supporting the development of the sport worldwide through strong relationships with continental and national federations, working with its partners to offer a balanced sport development programme from grassroots to a high-performance level.

For more information, visit: www.triathlon.org

About UK Sport

UK Sport is the nation’s high performance sports agency responsible for the strategic investment of National Lottery and Exchequer funding into Olympic and Paralympic sports and bringing major sporting events to the UK.

Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds is part of UK Sport’s #EveryRoadtoRio events series, which will feature over 30 world class sports events the length and breadth of the UK, with over 900,000 tickets available to the British public to support their athletes.

This ambitious National Lottery funded programme will support British athletes’ preparation and qualification for Rio 2016, with up to 95 direct and over 300 indirect qualification spots available, while generating economic impact for host cities and regions of over £37 million.

Throughout the #EveryRoadtoRio series UK Sport will be promoting exclusive ticket offers, opportunities to meet the athletes and get privileged behind the scenes access to events. Sign up now at www.uksport.gov.uk/events

About Columbia Threadneedle Investments

Columbia Threadneedle Investments is a leading global asset management group that provides a broad range of actively managed investment strategies and solutions for individual, institutional and corporate clients around the world. With more than 2000 people including over 450 investment professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia, we manage £323 billion¹ of assets across developed and emerging market equities, fixed income, asset allocation solutions and alternatives.

Our priority is the investment success of our clients. We aim to deliver the investment outcomes our clients expect through an investment approach that is team-based, performance-driven and risk-aware.

Columbia Threadneedle Investments started its successful relationship with the ITU World Series in 2013 and has since become global financial services sponsor.

The Columbia Threadneedle Rankings

As a global asset manager Columbia Threadneedle Investments recognises the importance of being the best in the field, not just at home, but on a global basis. The Columbia Threadneedle Rankings are used to determine the best performing triathletes across the ITU World Triathlon Series.

The Columbia Threadneedle Rankings Leader Trophy is presented to the top male and female elite athlete at each ITU World Triathlon Series event. In 2015 the Columbia Threadneedle Rankings Leader wore bespoke race markings and carried the colours of the new Rankings logo on their bike rack in transition.

Launched in 2015, the Columbia Threadneedle Rankings Report identifies the trends and interesting statistics after each event throughout the season.

The official Columbia Threadneedle Rankings can be accessed at www.wts.triathlon.org/ColumbiaThreadneedleRankings. Engage with the conversation on social media using the hashtag #CT_Rankings, or follow @CTinvest_Tri

For media enquiries please contact:

Laura Cook, 020 7464 5650, laura.cook@columbiathreadneedle.com

Ella Tekdag, 020 7464 5082, ella.tekdag@columbiathreadneedle.com

All figures as at 30 June 2015. ¹ Source: Ameriprise Financial Q2 2015 earnings release. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of investments and any income is not guaranteed and can go down as well as up and may be affected by exchange rate fluctuations. This means that an investor may not get back the amount invested. This material is for information only and does not constitute an offer or solicitation of an order to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments, or to provide investment advice or services. Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.

ENDS

For media enquiries please contact:

Roger Boyde,

Leeds City Council press office,

Email: roger.boyde@leeds.gov.uk