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ITU, Costa Rica at odds over offer of Olympic slot

August 8, San Jose, Costa Rica (www.slowtwitch.com):

Costa Rica has been issued a rolldown slot in the women's Olympic field. Or has it? It depends on whom you talk to. ITU sources told Triathlonlive.com that Costa Rica had indeed been offered a slot in the women's Olympic field. The secretary general of the Comité Olímpico de Costa Rica says: Not true at all.

Two days after a senior ITU source said that Costa Rica had long been offered a slot in the women's Olympic field (and Costa Rica's NOC had repeatedly failed to respond), the NOC secretary general batted down that impression.

Reached on Monday by phone at the NOC's San Jose office, secretary general Pearson Wilson says that he, rather than the ITU, has been the one leaving urgent messages about the matter.

"In June, Les McDonald sent us plenty of faxes on other matters, some of several pages," Wilson said. "He certainly has all of our fax numbers. We requested back in May at least a wildcard for one of our triathletes. Now we hear that Czech Republic, with a girl ranked below our top girl, has a [rolldown] slot, and we have nothing.

"On Friday I left messages for Les at both his office and on his private phone, that he should get in touch with us on this. I thought I might hear something from him today, but I hear nothing.

"They have never offered us any slots, not wildcard and not the rolldown. I have not received one note from ITU expressing a desire to have Costa Rica represented in the Olympic triathlon. They have never replied to our requests. That's the truth."

On Saturday, Triathlon Digest carried details from the ITU source, who is equally adamant that triathlon's world governing body had bent over backwards in its attempt to contact the Costa Ricans. The source said that ITU "contacted the Costa Rican NOC as well as the Costa Rican NF numerous times each over a period of weeks via both fax and phone, informing them that a slot in the women's Olympic race had been awarded them." In the absence of a reply, the source said, the slot was in danger of being passed down. Not having heard from either, the source said, the ITU "took the unusual step of contacting the IOC Sport Director to help 'pass along' this information to the NOC."

The source further said that, following Laura Mata's posting in Thursday's Digest, the Costa Rican NOC responded to the ITU, asking now for two slots. The ITU replied to the NOC, said our source, reconfirming just the one spot was earned, and will be reserved for Costa Rica.

When asked on Monday to confirm that's what happened, the NOC's Wilson said:

"I don't see how [ITU] can say we have spoken about this. I have left several messages for [McDonald]. If he really wants to talk to me, he has my personal phone number."

The faxes that McDonald has gotten through to the Costa Rican NOC lately, Wilson said, speak to McDonald's withdrawal of support for Guillermo Saenz, president of the Costa Rican triathlon federation, for any international role.

One of them, from July 2 and directed to the ITU executive board, is a follow-up to a fax that Saenz himself had sent days earlier to many national federations within the ITU, plus the IOC. Saenz's fax had carried several points of differences between Saenz and McDonald.

McDonald's fax-in-response concluded: "In discussion with the National Olympic Committee of Costa Rica, this report will be submitted to them with the recommendation that they assume responsibility for Triathlon in Costa Rica, until such time as a new National Federation is established with the guidance of the NOC President Mr. Jorge Carvajal and the Secretary General Mr. Pearson Wilson."

Noted Wilson, when questioned about faxes from McDonald: "We know of the federation's long-existing problem with the ITU. We know what's going on, about McDonald's withdrawal of his backing of Guillermo as an ITU board member. He wants us to do something.

"But as an Olympic commitee, we cannot get involved or intervene with a federation. We have very good relations with [the Costa Rican triathlon federation]."

Costa Rica became a red flag in the Olympic slot-filling process back on June 29, when the Czech Republic's No. 82-ranked Renata Berkova was noted by the ITU as included in the field for Sydney. However, the Czech Republic was not yet in line for a rolldown slot -- at least, not before Costa Rica and its No. 74 Laura Mata.

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Australian article takes its turn with McDonald

August 3, Sydney, Australia (www.slowtwitch.com):

This hasn't been the best of weeks for ITU president Les McDonald. First the federation asked the IOC for permission to adjust the fields at the Olympic triathlon in favor of the men. Next, the ITU is hit with a lawsuit from the German federation, which contends that the ITU's elections at the Perth Congress in April were flawed.

Now comes a major feature article in the September issue of Australia's Inside Sport magazine. Its headline, "The Ill-Will Games," reads further: "These Olympics should be triathlon's finest hour. Instead, they will be marked by a seething undercurrent of outrage at the bully who runs this sport and rigs its elections."

The piece, by Andrew Kennedy, is a damning compilation of details. It focuses on the politics of Perth, and how McDonald's leadership style has shaped the sport in his 11 years at the top.

It can be found in full online via the website. (The link takes you to the home page, then click "Features.")

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Inside Triathlon report: ITU faces court challenge

August 2, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

The ITU has been handed a legal challenge by the German Triathlon Union, which has petitioned to force a new election in the wake of the Perth Congress in April, when some credentialed delegates were excluded from voting and the Germans considered the election proceedings objectionable.

That's according to a report posted on Wednesday on the Inside Triathlon website. Correspondent Brent Mudry writes: "With triathlon's debut at the Sydney Olympics just six weeks away, the German Triathlon Union has launched a dissident rush court challenge in a bold bid to force a new election of the International Triathlon Union. The move comes three months after German official Erika Konig-Zenz lost a showdown battle to oust perennial ITU president Les McDonald at the 13th Annual Congress on April 27 in Perth, Australia."

(Note: Konig-Zenz is actually Austrian).

The petition was filed July 27 in the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Vancouver. The article notes: " ... Five national federations, spearheaded by the the German Triathlon Union, seek a court declaration to nullify the Perth election of the ITU's officers, executive board and its eight standing committees, on the allegation that the elections violated the ITU's bylaws.

"The German federation is supported by the Polish Triathlon Federation, the Cook Islands Triathlon Association, the Honduran Triathlon Federation and the Costa Rican Triathlon Federation."

The article further details some of the claims of the petition. It notes that no date for a court hearing has yet been set. The dissidents also seek a court order compelling the ITU to call and hold an Extraordinary Congress for voting on new elections and resolutions by August 31 at the latest.

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IOC says ITU can adjust the Olympic fields

July 31, Sydney, Australia (www.slowtwitch.com)

There will be probably be 100 athletes in the Olympic triathlon -- but not necessarily the field of 50 men and 50 women that the ITU, federations or athletes have been expecting.

The ITU has received permission from the International Olympic Committee, as of Monday, to adjust the configurations of the fields slightly. Currently, the ITU leaders who are figuring the fields are leaning toward 48 women and 52 men.

The adjustment would save the women's field from the possibility of having any one athlete finishing well behind all the others -- sort of avoiding an "Eddie the Eagle" situation. (The reference, now part of Olympic lore, is for Eddie Edwards, the British ski jumper who was miles behind the rest of the ski jumpers in the 1988 Olympics).

ITU Secretary General Mark Sisson noted, "while ITU has always led the way among all federations in terms of equality for women, in this situation we also have an obligation to the IOC and the Olympic Games to field the strongest athletes from the largest collection of countries."

The ITU is building the fields according to a complicated formula that was laid out for all federations in January 1997. Athletes have accumulated world-ranking points since then, and the intended fields of 50 women, 50 men, were to be drawn directly from the rankings.

The problem of filling the field down to 50 competitive women became clear to the ITU in the last few weeks. Little was officially said, and, as could be expected, the rumour of "as few as 45 women" started circulating between countries and continents. The rumour hit a height on Monday morning -- the same day that the ITU received a communique from the IOC granting the exception.

As things have worked out in the ITU's carefully constructed rankings system, there are actually only 56 women eligible for the original 50 slots (not counting the 4th-, 5th-ranked etc., women from a country). With New Zealand giving up two slots (one by rankings, one by regional), Australia rolling down one slot (host slot) and South Africa giving up two (one by rankings, one by regional), that leaves only 51 women eligible for the 50 places.

Clearly, there is not the same breadth of talent on the women's side of the sport as on the men's: The women's talent is concentrated in fewer countries. It's a startling realization that, unfortunately, is suddenly staring the sport in its face -- just seven weeks before the Olympics.

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On triathlon's big day, here's who's in charge

July 25, Sydney, Australia (www.slowtwitch.com):

We can't figure out what specific tasks are assigned to the 13 so-called "Sports Specialists" who will be on hand on September 16 and 17 for the two Olympic races, but everyone else's duties on triathlon's big day have been spelled out by the ITU.

Here's who is doing what, according to the ITU's latest bulletin:

The Management Team for the Olympic Triathlon is:

Competition Manager: David Hansen, AUS
Venue Manager: Eddie Moore, AUS
Administration Manager: Ms. Jodie Salmon, AUS
Operations Manager: George Faulkner, AUS
Technical Delegate: Ms Loreen Barnett, CAN

Jury of Appeal
1. Mark Sisson, USA (Chair)
2. Ms Libby Burrell, RSA
3. Masao Nakayama, JPN
4. Dr. Doug Hiller, USA
5. Dr. Edisson Orsorio, PUR
6. Claude Thomas, SUI

International Technical Officials
1. Referee: Michel Gignoux, FRA
2. Chief Race Official: David Coles, AUS
3. Chief Swim Official: Ms Jane Seaborn, AUS
4. Chief Cycle Official: Jaime Cadaval, MEX
5. Chief Run Official: Carsten Dietlefsen, DEN
6. Chief Transition Official: Scott LeDrew, CAN
7. Chief Technology Official: Ms Leslie Beckerman, CAN
8. Assistant Chief Cycle Official: Gergeley Markus, HUN
9. Swim Course Official: Ms Kiriyo Suzuki, JPN
10. Swim Course: Bruce Chambers, NZL
11. Assistant Chief Technology Official: Ms Sabrina Tramparula, SUI
12. Swim Course: Bruce More, NZL
13. Cycle Course: Toshitaka Nagaya, JPN

National Technical Officials (AUS)
1. Stuart Fuller
2. Paul Binnie
3. Ms Brigitte Joscelyne
4. Ms Melinda Farr
5. Ross McLellan

Sport Specialists
1. Eugene Kraus, LUX
2. Ross Cole, NZL
3. Ms Liz Graham, CAN
4. Phil Briars, NZL
5. Garth Prowd, AUS
6. Ken Baggs, AUS
7. Angus Charlton, AUS
8. Steve Doyle, AUS
9. David Ray, AUS
10. Malcom Robertson, AUS
11. Steve Sweeny, AUS
12. Joseph Tsalanides, AUS
13. Alan White, AUS

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Triathlon's Coles gets his torch run on the beach

July 20, Sydney, Australia (www.slowtwitch.com):

Phil Coles, Australia's disgraced IOC member who was declared an honorary member of ITU just last April, will carry the torch along Bondi Beach after all.

That's after he reminded SOCOG officials that he had been promised the prestigious beach leg of the relay six weeks ago.

According to Australian Associated Press, Olympic Minister Michael Knight announced that the relay will be extended to allow Coles his moment of glory in the sun, on the sand. The decision follows complaints by Coles after he learned that another athlete was to be the only runner on the beach, and that Coles' turn to carry the torch would come on nearby Curlewis Street.

Coles is the immediate past secretary general of the ITU, but his ties to triathlon were cut last year after he was reprimanded by the IOC. He served as the ITU's secretary general since 1994, after triathlon was accepted into the Sydney program and the Australian NOC Australia promised to provide an office with secretarial support for ITU at no cost in order to help ITU consolidate the 2000 Games triathlon.

After Coles was the subject of the IOC's "Coles Report" last year, which linked him to some behaviours unbecoming of IOC members but allowed him to keep his IOC membership, he was quietly replaced as ITU's secretary general by Mark Sisson.

But he wasn't gone from triathlon for long, as he was warmly welcomed back to the ITU fold in April in Perth. There, at the ITU Congress, Triathlon Australia president Bill Walker proposed that Coles be declared an honorary member of the ITU, a motion that was unanimously endorsed.

SOCOG made the change in the torch relay plans after the local surf club said it had made arrangements for club members to support Coles on his run, according to AAP, and they didn't want to let him down.

Notes the AAP: "The revised schedule means Atlanta athlete Jim Walker will be taking the torch from the surfboat and handing it to Coles on the sand."

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ITU's website in trouble as Worldsport.com collapses

July 13, London, England (www.slowtwitch.com):

Dozens of international sporting groups and federations that had contracted with Worldsport.com, including the ITU, now face a problematic Internet presence after the company called in the receivers late last week.

Worldsport.com finds itself in deep financial trouble, with a staff of 180 that has not been paid their salaries for June, according to two former employees. The company has offices in London, Monte Carlo and Tampa, Florida.

Half of the London staff -- more than 40 of whom worked in the editorial department, and another handful working on webcasting -- were made redundant on July 7. But they were forced to wait for another agonising week to find out whether they would ever get any of the money they were owed.

To those who don't know of the worldsport.com calamity, all appears to be business as usual on the website. Last weekend's triathlon news was reported promptly last Monday, including Toronto World Cup coverage. But that is the work of a remaining skeletal staff, and after next Monday, there could be no staff at all to continue operating ITU's website.

What happens next is anyone's guess. But the Worldsport.com bubble has burst -- just 70 days before what would clearly have been its grandest days, the Olympics. The worldsport.com model was built with Olympic sports in mind, and company founder (and until recently, CEO) Alan Callan had planned to float the company on the stock market with lucrative share options.

But the Texas venture capitalists who were most recently interested in investing only last month are long gone. So is most of the staff, which met yesterday and gave Callan until Friday to meet their salaries for June.

The world's triathletes won't be able to tell that anything is amiss with the ITU's website until its news goes stale when it is no longer updated. The ITU has a multi-year contract with Worldsport.com, so it is unlikely that the ITU could legally set up a quick-fix alternative site until Worldsport.com works through its problems.

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Triathlon is Olympics' first sell-out sport

June 19, Sydney, Australia (www.slowtwitch.com):

Triathlon - with the women's race as the opening event of the Olympics - has become the Games' first sell-out sport.

Some 1,300 tickets to the triathlon venue remained for both the September 16 (women's) and September 17 (men's) races on Saturday, when an additional 390,000 tickets across all sports were made available by SOCOG.

A Sydney box office and telephone sales line are SOCOG's newest ways to bring ticket sales to the Australian public. Internet sales are expected to begin at the end of the week -- although if you were hoping to snap up any triathlon tickets that way, you're too late.

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Ireland's McKnight can't get answers from ITU

June 15, Belfast, Northern Ireland (www.slowtwitch.com):

More than six weeks after the Irish delegate was wrongly excluded from the ITU Congress in Perth, Irish Triathlon Association president Ron McKnight hasn't had any explanation or apology from the ITU.

McKnight initially contacted the ITU on April 27 when he learned that the Irish delegate, Frank Stapleton, was one of the delegates from 12 countries that the ITU suddenly blocked from entering the Congress hall -- after the ITU credentials committee had approved them just the previous evening.

It's believed that Stapleton was barred because he was likely to cast his vote in that morning's ITU presidential election for a candidate other than ITU incumbent Les McDonald.

All 12 of the delegates -- all of whom were believed to likely cast their votes for the opposition -- had had their credentials approved the evening before Congress. But an emergency meeting of the ITU executive board, called just before the start of Congress, resulted in the decision to bar them from entering Congress and voting.

McDonald won the election, 36-20, over Austria's Erika Konig-Zenz.

Repeated e-mails from McKnight to ITU headquarters have gone unanswered since the Congress. Now McKnight has turned to Anne-Marie Gschwend, the Swiss federation president who is the ITU's new appointment (since the Perth Congress) as European regional representative to the ITU executive board.

Initially, on Tuesday, Gschwend responded that she did not want "to enroll in this distasteful story again," and suggested that "let's apply trust in the future."

McKnight responded on Thursday: "You were not the only one who was upset by what took place in Perth. But the one thing that has emerged is that there will be no trust in the future until democracy is returned to the ITU, that National Federations will not fear exclusion from Congress on the grounds of political expediency. A serious error of judgment was made, and Les McDonald must explain why the election degenerated into a farce.

"I would suggest you invite him to address ETU Congress (in Stein, Netherlands, on July 7) and account for his actions. Like all presidents, he is bound by the Constitution and has the onus upon himself to uphold the democratic process.

"It is clear from the information I have, which I will present to the ETU Congress, that democracy was stood on its head. This is why, after 45 days, we have still not received a reply from Loreen Barnett or the ITU to the e-mail and faxes we sent.

"If the elections were carried out properly and democratically - maybe we would not be in this predicament. It is not a question of who was elected, but that the process was flawed."

McKnight's correspondence to Barnett and the ITU included requests for: a) list of the attendees at Congress, and their credentials for doing so; b) list of those who were fully paid-up members; c) list of those who were bona fide domicile; d) list of those who were excluded, and the reasons why.

McKnight concluded in his open letter to Gschwend: "Ireland has no desire to cause quarrel with anyone. However, when our democratic rights have been denied, we must stand for what we feel is right, as would all right thinking Federations."

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Progress for PATCO? We'll see in San Andrés

June 6, Ilheus, Bahia, Brazil (www.slowtwitch.com):

For more than a year now, the Pan American Triathlon Confederation has been a splintered organization, with a division of allegiances running largely along a North-South split.

All that will be formally addressed between August 11-13, when the PATCO Congress occurs alongside the Pan American Championships in San Andrés, Colombia.

General elections should put an end to the political maneuvers that have taken place in everything from e-mails to closed meetings in Perth to which certain PATCO countries were not invited.

PATCO general secretary Joao Calazans stated Tuesday from Brazil: "This is a good oportunity to clear all things in the Pan American arena. If the USA, Canada, Mexico and Brazil want to change some things, they will welcome in San Andrés. We also have a guarantee about their participation in the Congress. PATCO isn't ITU, and San Andrés will never look like Perth."

It was in Perth, during the week leading up to the ITU World Championships at the end of April, where the split among PATCO leadership and alliances was most obvious.

Costa Rica's Guillermo Saenz, an ITU executive board member as PATCO's regional representative, was excluded from the pre-Congress ITU executive board meeting -- and then allowed in only as an observer, and without voice or vote.

But that ITU-initiated snub of PATCO-affiliated countries was just the beginning. On the day of the Perth Congress, nine PATCO countries were among the 12 federations whose delegates were denied entry to the Congress itself -- Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, Peru,Uruguay and Venezuela. (The other three countries denied a vote were Estonia, Ireland and Poland).

Later that week, there was a closed meeting of some of the PATCO countries -- Puerto Rico, Mexico, United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina among them -- to determine a strategy to restructure PATCO. That it inself was an unspoken acknowledgment that the extraordinary meeting called by ITU president Les McDonald for Mexico City in March 1999 was itself a failed attempt to restructure PATCO and form.

Although it was poorly attended (only 10 countries showed up, some of them accounted for by proxy only), the "decision" to make just a single Americas region while dropping PATCO's three traditional regions (North America, Central America and Caribbean, and South America), was widely trumpeted by McDonald and his supporters. The Mexico City meeting also attempted to revamp PATCO with new officers -- but didn't manage to close down the existing PATCO organization in favor of the new one.

However, by Perth, those moves were quietly recognized by everyone as painfully unconstitutional. Mexico's Antonio Alvarez had been "voted" the new general secretary of PATCO in Mexico City; however, that, too, was an unconstitutional move. The "old" PATCO -- with Calazans as its general secretary -- remains fully functional and in place.

Of the meeting in Perth, to which he - the standing general secretary - wasn't invited, Calazans said: "It's impossible to create a new PATCO when we already have a real PATCO."

It's expected that the regional question (three regions versus the one region favored by McDonald and some of the PATCO countries) will come to a vote in San Andrés.

Said Calazans on that measure: "It will be a good question for the Pan American Congress, if want one area in America or three areas, as the Constitution now shows. If the Congress says one area, we will change the Constitution to one area, starting in 2001.

"But the Congress have to decide about it -- not Jorge (Mejia, PATCO president), Les, João or others."

On a different matter, PATCO recently elected a representative to the ITU executive board: Ulpiano Rodriguez, the president of the Cuban Triathlon Federation.

The decision was taken last month by an e-mail vote. Rodriguez joins the other regional representatives to the executive board -- New Zealand's Terry Sheldrake, for Oceania; Japan's Masao Nakayama, for Asia; Switzerland's Anne-Marie Gschwendt, for Europe; and South Africa's Rodney Niewestadt, for Africa.

The PATCO vote by the 21 member federations, 14 to 7 in favor of Rodriguez, reflected the continuing turmoil within the organization.

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No ITU World Sprint Championships for 2000 after all

June 2, Runaway Bay, Queensland, Australia (www.slowtwitch.com):

The plan for ITU to add a sprint-distance event to its lineup of world championships has been delayed until 2001.

A first-ever ITU Sprint Triathlon World Championships was planned for mid-August at the Sports Super Centre at Runaway Bay, a new, private facility on Australia's Gold Coast, not far from Surfers Paradise. But plans for the championships were cancelled last month when those involved agreed that time was too short to notify federations and attract a representative field.

That's according to Belgium's Wim Davoose (mailto:runawaybay@skynet.be), the European representative for the Sports Super Centre.

The event would have put Runaway Bay on the map -- but there is no shortage of other major world-class events -- across all sports -- that have shown interest and even booked the facility for the coming year. Runaway Bay has been developed by Ron Clarke, an Australian Olympian and businessman, and opened for athletes' limited use in February.

An official opening will occur on September 10 - one week before the opening of the Olympics on September 16. Topping the invitation list is Juan Antonio Samaranch, the IOC president who is very familiar with Clarke's athletics past and his 18 world records.

Although the Olympic-distance triathlon is the distance favored and promoted by the ITU in its World Cup circuit and Olympic vision, the sprint distance (750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run) is more popular with the world's age-groupers. Sprint triathlons are quite common in both Australia and the United States, and the initiation of an ITU World Championships is an acknowledgment of that.

In fact, the ITU World Cup set for nearby Brisbane, Queensland, on September 3 is likely to be a sprint distance -- a first for World Cup racing. It's hoped that the shorter format two weeks before the Olympic triathlons will attract most of the Olympians who are doing their pre-Olympic training in Australia.

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ITU Points Races march on

June 1, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

Even though the rush for the world's elite triathletes to gather points for Olympic qualifying is over, Olympic-distance triathlons continue to be confirmed and added to the ITU's schedule of international events.

The newest additions, announced last month, are the Subic Bay Triathlon in the Philippines (which occurred on May 28), and England's Pepsi Max Royal Windsor Triathlon for June 18.

ITU also announced earlier this week the cancellation of one ITU Points Race, that at Gyor, Hungary, on June 11.

The changes in the schedule bring the number of points opportunities for 2000 to 39 total: 5 in Australia, 4 in both Japan and Italy, 3 in Mexico, 2 each in Chile, Czech Republic, Netherlands and Korea, and single races in Venezuela, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, New Caledonia, the USA, St. Kitts, Malaysia, Philippines, Netherlands, Japan, England, Canada and Luxembourg.

The inclusion of two races in Korea is a point of interest. The first is at Sokcho City on July 17, which was the site of the Asian Championships in 1999.

The second falls on October 8, and is presumably a dry-run for the inclusion of triathlon in the 2002 Asian Games -- which will be hosted by Pusan, South Korea, from September 29 to October 14, 2002.

The Asian Games, for 43 member federations, feature 26 Olympic sports and 10 non-Olympic sports. Triathlon's inclusion in the Games is expected to be considered by the general assembly of the Olympic Committees of Asia (OCA) in November. The quadrennial games had 36 sports in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1998, and 32 sports in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1994. In Bangkok, the new sports were squash, rugby, mountain biking and women's sepak takraw.

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ITU to issue roll-down Olympic slots after June 1

June 1, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

Today is the day that the ITU has requested national Olympic committees (NOCs) to indicate exactly how many Olympic slots they will be using for the Olympic triathlon.

It's the next step in the process to build the field of 50 men and 50 women for the September 16 (women) and September 17 (men) races. The International Olympic Committee does not require a list of actual athletes until September 4 -- but the ITU is trying to solidify its fields several weeks sooner.

The ITU had intended to announce on May 2 exactly how many slots were being allotted to which countries. However, the lists they issued on May 2, after the ITU World Championships, were provisional only and didn't include countries that had earned slots via regional results. It took another round of confirming all the points and rankings before the ITU was able to contact NOCs on May 15 with absolute allotments.

Only a handful of NOCs have actually confirmed their Olympic triathletes, while other NOCs aren't ready yet to name names. While many Olympians are obvious according to the ITU's list of eligible athletes (top-125 per its world rankings), triathletes in several countries must also clear additional hurdles imposed by their NOCs.

Some examples of federations and where Olympic decisions currently stand:

- Triathlon Australia has named its three women (Nicole Hackett, Loretta Harrop and Michellie Jones) and three men (Peter Robertson, Miles Stewart and Craig Walton). Yet it cannot forward the names to the Australian Olympic Committee until it handles the protests for four excluded triathletes - Greg Bennett, Brad Beven, Emma Carney and Jackie Gallagher - on June 13. The protesting triathletes have been asked to promise to not reveal what occurs behind the hearing's closed doors.

- Triathlon South Africa has identified its eligible athletes (Conrad Stoltz, Lieuwe Boonstra, Lizel Moore, Kim Carter and Dominique Donner), but little is known beyond that. Exactly whom the governing body is recommending for Olympic inclusion to the National Olympic Committee of South Africa is a closely-guarded secret. However, it's known that NOCSA tends not to send athletes to the Olympics - in whatever sport - unless they are likely to acquit themselves well in a world-class manner. It's expected that, given that criteria, perhaps only Stoltz will be selected for the Olympics -- and the three slots earmarked for South Africa's women (one by rankings, one by regional, one by roll-down) will roll further down to other countries.

- The Deutsche Triathlon Union in Germany has nominated only two women, Anja Dittmer and Joelle Franzmann, even though the German women have earned three slots (including one by regional results). Both Ines Estedt and Ute Mueckle have expressed disappointment in not gaining approval for that third Olympic slot -- but they simply didn't meet the criteria stated by the NOK (Nationales Olympisches Komitee, or German Olympic Committee) regarding performances in either the ITU World Cup-Sydney or the World Championships in Perth in April.

As for using the two slots for men, the DTU is favoring Stefan Vuckovic and Andreas Raelert. However, Roland Knoll has protested, and a hearing was conducted on Monday night about his case for selection. Vuckovic's 2nd in Sydney, and Raelert's 9th in Sydney, have appeared to secure their Olympic positions. However, Knoll's 12th place in Perth - as the highest-finishing German - gave credence to his protest, which the DTU has not yet issued a decision on.

Some of the European countries are basing their final selections on races not yet run. Several, such as Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria and Britain, won't make their final choices until after the ITU World Cup in Monte Carlo on July 2, and/or the European Championships on July 8.

While the ITU does not yet ask for specific athletes as of today, it does ask that NOCs indicate whether they will be making use of their slots, or whether they should roll down to other countries with eligible athletes.

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ITU tips its hand for Olympic "wild cards"

June 1, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

Cancel the thought that the ITU would come up with some dramatic decisions over which two men and two women would receive the tri-blessings of the ITU, IOC and national federations in the designation of the four wild-card slots for the Olympic triathlon. The Olympic qualification criteria reserves two spots each for the men and women that are open for invitation.

For this decision, there appear to be no mid-summer surprises: The ITU is playing it strictly by the book. That is, it appears that at least three of the four slots are going to the highest-ranked countries without any Olympic slots according to the world rankings.

For men, that means that invitations to Sydney have been extended to Argentina (and Oscar Galindez has been confirmed) and Sweden (no athlete has been confirmed yet, although Joachim Willen is its highest-ranked, at 41st).

For women, Russia has been invited to send one athlete, who has been confirmed as Nina Anisimova.

It appears as if the ITU is using its invitations in the spirit of universality -- to invite the "most deserving nations who otherwise did not have a slot" to send someone. If that is the case, then the last invitation would have gone to Costa Rica, as its women are the second highest-ranked team without any slots.

(With Rina Hill's points not counting toward New Zealand's ranking, Canada becomes the 6th country to earn 3 rankings slots. That means that Mexico - ranked one higher than Costa Rica - would get the North American regional slot).
More Olympic triathlon tickets on sale on Wednesday

May 22, Sydney, Australia (www.slowtwitch.com)

Wednesday, May 24, is the day that additional triathlon-specific Olympic tickets go on sale for the "previously sold-out" events.

SOCOG, the Olympic organizing committee, is issuing 3,636 more triathlon tickets for seating in the main viewing areas. Thousands of additional tickets were determined to be available last month, and SOCOG made plans to sell them off, one or two sports per day, over several days between May 7 and June 5.

Triathlon's tickets come up on Wednesday -- Tuesday to much the rest of the non-Australia world, for those intending to travel to Sydney.

Ticketing is handled by a special procedure, which is detailed on the Olympic section of the Sydney Morning Herald website.

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McDonald makes Sport Intern front page again

May 14, Munich, Germany (www.slowtwitch.com):

ITU President Les McDonald has made the front page again of Sport Intern (15 May issue) in a report that summarizes the ITU Congress and Elections on April 27.

Sport Intern, the newsletter published in English out of Munich, covers sports federations and is considered "must read" for those involved with the Olympic family.

Copyright law prohibits us from quoting the full, 600-word article. However, it is not flattering. It reads, in part: "ITU President Les McDonald has managed to get himself out of a tight spot; however, the methods he used to do so and ensure that he was re-elected have only served to discredit himself even more."

The source of the article is a post-Congress internal report by one of the European federations, which Sport Intern did not name.

The article carries the first public details of the reasons behind the exclusion of 13 countries to the ITU Congress. That part reads:

"The Congress began late because a meeting of the Executive Board had been called. At the meeting, a resolution was passed (with a majority of nine votes to five), excluding 13 countries on the grounds that they had not paid their affiliation fee or had not been legitimated.

"They just happened to be the 13 federations whose representatives had let it be known, at a meeting of the opposition the evening before, that they intended to vote against McDonald. Evidently one of McDonald'd spies had sneaked into the meeting and passed on the information to him that same night. During the meeting of the Executive Board, the opposition's offer to deposit the affiliation fees was simply ingnored. That was odd because, just a few months earlier, McDonald had written a letter to South American federations saying that they would not have to pay an affiliation fee and that countries would have access to the Congress even if their legitimation had not been reviewed."

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Beaumont departs Perth -- for Sydney

May 13, Perth, Australia (www.slowtwitch.com):

Simon Beaumont, the "media manager" whose name became known worldwide to the triathlon community in the aftermath of the ITU World Triathlon Championships on April 30, has wrapped up his duties defending the ITU in Perth. There, he was employed by Eventscorp, the Western Australia government arm that partnered with the ITU in producing the World Championships.

But he isn't leaving the world of triathlon altogether just yet: Many of the triathlon-specialist journalists who met him in Perth will see him again in an even bigger role, as SOCOG's Venue Press Manager for both triathlon and mountain biking for the Olympics.

Friday was Beaumont's last day on the job in Perth, where he spent most of the last two weeks handling the public relations end of the Worlds' short-course controversy. "I have had some very positive comments from athletes, journos, volunteers, etc., which is encouraging," he said of the few weeks that his name was much-quoted in triathlon circles around the world. "But this has been a bizarre professional experience."

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Sportsworld deal is signed, announced

May 12, London, England (www.slowtwitch.com):

Signatures were finally put to paper last week for ITU's extensive marketing deal with Sportsworld Media -- nearly four months after the ITU prematurely announced its arrangement with the London-based sports programming and marketing company.

Now that it is a done deal, it drew notice in the Financial Times on May 8. It was described as a US$10 million arrangement stretching over six years. The short piece reads, in part:

"Sportsworld - which recently completed the £50m purchase of Sports and Outdoor Media, the events marketing company - said it would attempt to raise the sport's profile in return for the media and marketing rights to official triathlon events ... The two organisations will share some of the revenues."

This deal essentially farms out marketing tasks that were previously the responsibility of former ITU executive Mike Gilmore.

Sportsworld executives took a moment last week to introduce themselves, by email, to those with ITU interests. They wrote:

I am writing to introduce Sportsworld Media Group plc and SSM Freesports,the international marketing and media agents for the ITU.

SPORTSWORLD MEDIA GROUP

Sportsworld Media Group is an international company with offices in London, Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Dubai, Melbourne and Sydney. It is a marketing company that specialises in broadcast communications - that is, high quality television productions which communicate sponsor and brand messages.

Sportsworld has relationships with over 80 broadcasters around the world - as it has been producing international TV sports programming for five years. Apart from TV production and distribution, Sportsworld organises a number of major events each year, including both the ATP, the Rugby 7's events in Dubai and the professional windsurfers association world tour.

Sportsworld employs approximately 500 people around the world.

SSM FREESPORTS

SSM Freesports is a specialist division of Sportsworld. SSM specialises in working with young, lifestyle sports like surfing, mountain biking and snowboarding - and is the leading agency in the world in these sports, with over 50 staff and an international client list including Coca Cola, Pepsi, Warner Bros and Swatch.

SSM Freesports offers a range of services that are complementary to Sportsworld : including TV production, media relations and exploitation, consultancy, governing body management and event management.

OUR RELATIONSHIP

Sportsworld are now the exclusive marketing and media agents for the International Triathlon Union and will be investing significantly to market triathlon and the ITU. Much of the actual day to day work required to create value for the ITU as an international federation will be carried out by SSM Freesports.

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May 2 passes for ITU with no definitive allocation

Minus the fanfare that one could have expected for the historic announcement of which countries will be allocated slots for triathlon’s Olympic debut in Sydney, the ITU has let its long-announced cutoff date for ITU points -- May 2, 2000 -- come and go without much of a fuss.

Trumpeted since 1997 as the day when federations would learn how many triathletes they are eligible to send to Sydney, May 2 brought only a listing of “Provisional Country Rankings” on the ITU’s official website.

Countries and athletes both are still waiting the official word on how many of them can start packing their bags for Sydney.

Mark Sisson, ITU secretary general, dismissed the ITU’s non-announcement as nothing to get worried over. “Everybody can generally figure out if they’re going, especially the top countries,” Sisson said on Friday morning. “But we can’t know everyone, because there will be some significant roll-downs from NOC’s (National Olympic Committees) that don’t use all their slots.”

That may be true in a few weeks, but the ITU has not yet notified NOCs of how many slots their athletes can officially expect. For example, the Chinese are eligible to send two women based on having qualified them through the Asian Regional Championship on April 23. But the ITU website -- according to the list of “provisional country rankings” that went up on May 2 -- indicates that China has qualified zero women.

Sisson said the delays were due to “one, or one and a half, people responsible for the rankings - a small staff still working on dotting all the i’s and crossing all the t’s ... that’s one aspect of provisional.” Once that is done, Sisson said, an official announcement should replace any list of “provisional country rankings.” NOCs and federations were expecting this on May 2, but the ITU didn’t deliver on that date.

Could the ITU’s math be problematic at this point? Sisson was asked. “Could be a problem,” he concurred.

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Which countries go to Sydney? ITU tells us today

May 1, Perth, Australia (www.slowtwitch.com):

Today -- May 1 -- has already come and gone in Perth, but it’s the day that the ITU has promised to notify federations and athletes of how triathlon’s 100 Olympic slots will be filled according to countries.

However, the official ITU website still lists rankings according to April 25 -- before the final points events in both St. Petersburg, Florida (St. Anthony’s Triathlon, an ITU Points Race) and Perth (World Championships).

Federations, athletes and triathlon observers who are curious how the Olympic places pan out can find the updated, post-Perth details at John Walker’s website:

For men’s country slots, and how they earned them:

For women’s country slots, and how they earned them:

Carter featured on NBC’s Olympic Show

April 13, New York, New York, USA (www.slowtwitch.com):

New Zealander Hamish Carter, the world’s No. 1-ranked triathlete, will be one of three Olympic-bound athletes profiled on NBC-TV’s Olympic Show on Saturday evening (7:30 p.m. ET).

The program is billing him as triathlon’s gold-medal favorite -- an early call that Britain’s Simon Lessing and Kazakstan’s Dimitry Gaag might take exception to.

The 30-minute show will also feature rower Emma Robinson, Canada’s world champion who overcame thyroid cancer, and who has been a source of inspiration for US triathlete Karen Smyers, recently afflicted with the same; and trampolinist Jennifer Parilla, America’s only athlete in one of the other debut sports for the Sydney Olympics.

On the Internet side of NBC’s Olympics coverage (at NBCOlympics.com), Mark Allen will host a live chat from Sydney on Friday (April 14), from 8-9 p.m. ET. He will be discussing Sunday’s World Cup -- a race that doubles as SOCOG’s Test Event for triathlon. The women's race begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on
Saturday, April 15, and the men's race follows at 10:15 p.m. ET.

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Triathlon racing: Full steam ahead!

March 24, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (www.slowtwitch.com):

This is the weekend that the triathlon world has been waiting for -- when high-level racing breaks out in several places at once.

The big focus is on the World Cup opener here, which makes for the 2000 debut of Kazakstan's Dimitry Gaag, the ITU's No. 2-ranked man. He will be challenged by the suddenly-hot Simon Whitfield of Canada and Argentina's Oscar Galindez, who has won his last four Olympic-distance races since January.

The women's field, though smaller, is relatively stronger. Brazil's Mariana Ohata, winner of her second South American title on March 12 and second in Triathlon de Santos on February 13, will see how she fares against Switzerland's Magali Messmer, and two of Britain's best, Steph Forrester and Sian Brice. The race also marks a return to world-class readiness by Canada's Carol Montgomery.

Those World Cup athletes -- 59 men, 35 women in a strangely "lite" field -- will enjoy a windfall points that are accorded to 2000 World Cups: 1500 to win, 1200 for second, 1050 for third, 900 for fourth, etc. World Cup points in 2000 are equivalent to those appropriated for the 1999 ITU World Championships.

Elsewhere, there is no shortage of hot racing this weekend:

- The African Regional Championships at Cape Mykonos, Western Cape, South Africa, will gain an Olympic slot for the countries of both the men's and women's winners.

- ITU Points Races are occurring in both Valle de Bravo, Mexico, and Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia. The largely-Mexican and Caribbean field in Valle de Bravo is challenged by American Jimmy Riccitello, well-suited for the cycling course. In Mooloolaba, which doubles as the Australian Championships and a Triathlon Australia Series finale, world No. 1 Hamish Carter is making his 2000 racing debut on the ITU level as two-time Aussie champ Greg Bennett tries to defend his title.

- The Asian Cup Series opener is Sunday at Hau Lien, Chinese Taipei. The President's Enterprise Cup International Triathlon has Aussies Andrew Noble and Jason Metters facing a field of triathletes from Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore.

- The Powerman Alabama is the major duathlon opener of the year. The Belgian pair of Benny Van Steelant and Marino Hoenacker -- who finished 1-2 in most of their races across Europe last year -- lead a very international influx to the Irondale, Alabama, event on Sunday. Kimberly Bruckner tries to repeat as the women's winner.

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ITU asks regions to reconsider pre-May 2

March 10, Vancouver, B.C., Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

Reversing its intentions announced a month ago to retroactively award 2000-level points for two 1999 regional results, in an effort to "even out" points opportunities in this run-up to the Olympic-qualification cutoff of May 2, the ITU is now holding firm on its international schedule.

However, "the door should be left open for the European and Pan-American Regions to establish a Regional Championships prior to the May 1 2000 cut-off," said Loreen Barnett, the ITU Technical Committee chair, who called an ad hoc group in the last month to find a solution to some federations' comments about the apparent inequities.

Barnett circulated a letter to national federations on Thursday, which pointed out some conclusions of the committee:

"It is too late to make any change to the point scale that has been published for several years and approved by the IOC. Therefore: The 2000 Regional Championships prior to May 1 awards points for top 15 athletes according to the 2000 table.

"There will be no retroactive points applied to events in 2000 Unlike the regions of Asia, Oceania and Africa, the European and Pan-American Regions did not recognize the importance to their athletes of the May 1 date and did not or could not find a venue for their Regional Championships in 2000 prior to May 1, so their athletes could benefit by the points.

"The door should be left open for the European and Pan-American Regions to establish a Regional Championships prior to the May 1 2000 cut-off."

Barnett further pointed out that Marco Sbernadori, president of the Italian federation, has offered to have Cefalu (Italy) on 24 April upgraded to a 2000 Regional Championship. However, the European Triathlon Union has had its 2000 European Championships long scheduled for Stein, Netherlands, on July 5-8, and is unlikely to consider switching its championship site at this late date.

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PATCO grapples with a power struggle

March 7, Margarita Isle, Venezuela (www.slowtwitch.com):

At a time when North American, South American, Central American and Caribbean triathletes are scrambling for ITU points to qualify them for the Olympics, the politicians that preside over them -- via PATCO, or the Pan American Triathlon Confederation -- are engaged in a power struggle.

The split is essentially North vs. South. A situation that has quietly simmered for the last year finally surfaced in February, when the South American-led portion of power called for an extraordinary meeting in Venezuela. There, they pointed out that the decisions taken by an extraordinary meeting called for Mexico City in March 1999, were illegal, contrary to the original PATCO constitution and, therefore, unbinding.

There were 12 PATCO-member federations at the meeting in Venezuela. They argue that the eight PATCO members who showed up in Mexico 11 months earlier -- plus two more who voted by proxy -- were not enough for a legal quorum.

Even that much is a source of tension between the North vs. South groups. While the North-leaning politicos are quick to point out that “12 federations gathered in Venezuela does not make a quorum,” they are slow to concede that 10 federations in Mexico - only eight actually present - does not allow for any legal changes to the PATCO constitution. With roughly 45 member federations within PATCO, an umbrella regional organization and recognized by the ITU, consisting of three distinct regions within it, a quorum consists of 17.

As the politicans spit and spar, their triathletes have been left hanging.

Central to the current round of emails firing back and forth is the vote taken in Mexico -- and later lauded by the ITU -- to collapse the “old” PATCO and create a “new” PATCO, complete with a new constitution. The post-Mexico PATCO minimized the international importance of the three regional championships -- North American, Centralamerican and Caribbean and South American -- in favor of a single “Americas” championship.

The 2000 "Americas" championship designation was confirmed -- in an announcement by ITU a few weeks ago -- for Edmonton, Canada, on July 16. However, some South American voices within PATCO argued that Canada was too far to travel, thus too expensive a trip, for triathletes from some of PATCO’s less-developed countries. Bowing to that point, Edmonton withdrew itself as the Americas championship site. Just on Tuesday did PATCO announce that the 200 Americas championships would indeed be on July 16 -- yet in San Andres, Colombia.

With just eight weekends of racing remaining before the ITU’s cutoff for Olympic-qualifying points (May 2), triathletes are eager to amass points from wherever they can. The current problem for the PATCO athletes, however, is that they -- as well as European athletes -- are at a disadvantage vis-a-vis those from Asia, Africa and Oceania -- all of whom will have benefitted from their 2000 regional championships in advance of May 2. By rescheduling its Americas championship for July 16, rather than move it forward to a southern-hemisphere venue for March or April, PATCO didn't manage to help its triathletes with this particular problem.

Like the four other regional organizations, PATCO is neither an arm nor an extension of ITU: First formed in 1991, it is an organization of all the loosely-connected North American, South American and Central American/Caribbean triathlon federations that are members of the ITU. The ITU recognizes PATCO as one umbrella regional organization and invites its representative to sit among the ITU’s board of directors.

The five regional organizations affiliated to ITU are intended to further the development of triathlon within their regions. They are formed with triathletes’ and the sport’s growth in mind. As such, they conduct regional championships and, within both Europe and Asia, even region-wide Cup series, complete with regional rankings.

However, the latest twist of events within PATCO suggest that it’s the region’s politicians who are making the news these days, rather than the region’s triathletes. Complicating issues is the fact that last September, the ITU Executive Board in Montreal
was led to believe that PATCO had taken steps in Mexico to "dissolve" its three regions in favor of unifying, which is what ITU President Les McDonald -- who even attended the Mexico meeting -- was pushing for. But when it was pointed out that dissolution of each of the PATCO regions would have to involve a yes-vote by 75 percent of each region's federations, McDonald concurred that dissolution had not exactly occurred. Nonetheless, the premise remained before the ITU board that all PATCO matters were in order. The “new” PATCO - now seemingly unified as one region, with the three sub-regions still existing - was formally recognized by ITU.

Thus, the meeting in Venezuela apparently served to restore the PATCO situation before the Mexico meeting, as decisions taken there were shown to have been taken illegally. Any changes to the constitution will have to wait until July 16, when PATCO conducts its annual congress alongside its championship.

Noted Brazil's Joao Calazans, PATCO's general secretary: "In the Extraordinary Congress in Margarita Island, we didn't work to change the PATCO constitution because we had only 12 countries, and we will need 17 countries to do that. But, we work hard to do a correction of the illegal aspects and acts practiced in the Mexico Extraordinary Congress."
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South Americans get a boost in ITU rankings

March 7, Vancouver, B.C., Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

Twenty South American triathletes' world rankings got a sizable boost on Friday, when the ITU issued its first set of world rankings for 2000.

Long awaited since the ITU's last issue of rankings on November 17, this list reflects results from the first six ITU Points Races and the Oceania regional championship of 2000. It also follows the ITU's annual "audit" of its rankings.

However, it does not include the "doubling" of points from both the 1999 European Championships and the 1999 Pan American Games. Including those points -- twice -- was the ITU's solution to two regions' charge that their 2000 championships won't fall
before the May 2 Olympic-points cutoff, to their disadvantage.

The rises in ranks of some South Americans would be understandable if the ITU had followed through with its "double points plan," once both PATCO (Pan American Triathlon Confederation) and the European Triathlon Union pointed out to ITU that its 2000 championships were scheduled for July. The Oceania regional (January 3), the African regional (March 26) and the Asian regional (April 23) -- each with 750 points for each winner, and points 15 places deep -- will have all occurred before the Olympic-points cut-off.

But by leaving out the "double points plan," the ITU has left some question marks in place of an answer.

The current rankings give boosts to the South Americans -- but not because of the Pan American Games points solution. In a move that ITU did not advance as a likelihood or possibility before issuing its newest list, the ITU -- having already awarded regular 1998 points for the South American Regional Championship (Montevideo, Uruguay in March, 1998) -- has awarded the top 10 finishers there what virtually amounts to 1999 regional points.

For example, Brazilian Alexandre Manzan's win in Montevideo used to be (in the November 17 list) worth 250 points. Now, it appears to have gained him 750 points total -- two years later.

Some other effects of including the 1998 results again are

-- Brazil's Sandra Soldan moving to No. 36 from No. 45, benefitting from these newly-applied 500 points;

-- Brazil's Fernanda Keller breaking into the top-100, moving up to the No. 98 rank, with 390 points more than she had when she listed as No. 140 in the November 17 rankings;

-- Argentina's Laura Luetich moving to the No. 103 rank from No. 137, after "gaining" 300 points.

In total, the South Americans -- several of whom have not raced in an ITU event since the November 17 rankings -- have
received an extra 2500 points for both men and women.

The ITU issued its rankings without any explanations of its changes, which is its usual practice.

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TV trade mag: ITU may face lawsuits

March 6, London, England (www.slowtwitch.com):

Last week's issue of TV Sports Markets, a well-respected trade newsletter published out of London, carries the headline: Triathlon union may face legal action over rights deal.

Reporter Callum Murray's front-page article reads, in part: "The International Triathlon Union last week risked legal action from a group of marketing and television companies by signing a new five-year television and sponsorship deal thought to be worth up to US$500,000 (£312,000) a year with the Sportsworld media group."

Indeed, the new contract that ITU President Les McDonald signed with the London-based Sportsworld group may cut across several existing contracts in the areas of marketing, television and even Internet rights.

ITU announced its "new deal" on February 21. Sportsworld, the ITU press release read, takes over as ITU's "exclusive marketing and media agents for an initial term which lasts until after the 2004 Athens Olympics."

However, several European companies already claim to have contracts in place for marketing alliances, as well as for both television and Internet rights. Hot House, a London TV production and distribution company, for example, said that Sportsworld's appointment "directly clashes with its own exclusive agency contract with the union, which still has two years to run."

On the matter of Hot House, ITU president Les McDonald told TV Sports Markets that he considered that contract to be invalid, because he personally had not signed it.

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The race is on: Olympic-qualifying rankings

February 29, Vista, California (www.slowtwitch.com):

The ITU's world rankings list doesn't yet reflect any of the six ITU Points Races or the one regional championship staged by the ITU so far in 2000: The ITU website still indicates November 17 (1999) as its last update for world rankings.

But Triathlonlive.com's John Walker, an outside observer who maintains meticulous and independent records on ITU points and results, has provided an up-to-date list that athletes and federations both can follow: It may be found under "Rankings" on this website.

After three ITU Points Races last weekend, these are some of the effects:

- Canada's Simon Whitfield, second in Devonport, moved to No. 38 from No. 48.
- Mexico's Uzziel Valderrabano, first in Venezuela, moved to No. 40 from No. 54.
- Brazil's Leandro Macedo, second in Venezuela, moved to No. 42 from No. 51.
- Brazil's Juraci Moreira Jr., third in Venezuela, moved to No. 46 from No. 57.
- Britain's Tim Don, first in South Africa, moved to No. 59 from No. 67.
- Costa Rica's Jose Alfaro, fourth in Venezuela, moved to No. 84 from No. 97.
- Britain's Craig Ball, fourth in South Africa, moved to No. 119 from No. 148.
- Australia's Courtney Atkinson, fifth in Devonport, moved to No. 154 from No. 201.
- Zimbabwe's Robin Simpson - who had scored not a single ITU point in 1999
- was third in South Africa, moving to No. 157 from No. 262.

Some prominent changes for women's rankings:

- Australia's Tracy Hargreaves, fourth in Devonport, moved to No. 18 from
No. 25.
- Colombia's Carmenza Morales, first in Venezuela, moved to No. 39 from No. 46.
- Britain's Heather Williams, third in South Africa, moved to No. 83 from No. 115 (If she holds top-100, this puts her in her federation's race-off for the three Olympic spots).
- America's Lauren Jensen, fourth in Venezuela, moved to No. 131 from No. 177. (She is moving closer to that top-125 bar that allows entry to the US Olympic Trials).

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ITU gets a new marketing partner

February 24, London, England (www.slowtwitch.com):

The ITU announced on Monday that it has appointed Sportsworld Media Group, of London, as its "exclusive marketing and media agents for an initial term which lasts until after the 2004 Athens Olympics."

A press release that circulated on Monday reads, in part:

"As part of the agreement, Sportsworld guarantees the ITU a minimum annual income for this period. Additionally, it will provide a range of brand marketing services to extend the sport's visibility and profile.

"Sportsworld Media Group has an increasing international presence in the UK, Australia, the US, Canada and Dubai, and, through its specialist division SSM Freesports, a strong focus on new generation and lifestyle sports - such as snowboarding and surfing - appealing strongly to a 16 - 35 demographic.

"ITU President Les McDonald : "We considered a number of potential partners, but Sportsworld and SSM's approach to our sport was by far the closest to our expectations ... We are confident that Sportsworld not only understands us, but has the energy and sophistication to develop the ITU into an extremely strong brand."

"Geoff Brown, CEO of Sportsworld Media Group, said: "The sport of triathlon (and the other multi-sports managed by the ITU) has huge potential. It has strong characters, beautiful settings, heroic action and a great demographic. Its Executive Board has shown itself to be innovative and principled and we believe we have the basis of an extremely strong relationship. Our programme for the ITU is ambitious, but eminently achievable - and we're itching to start."

"SSM Freesports, who will be responsible for production, believe the sport has tremendous potential for television and are anticipating strong take up by broadcasters for the new 12-part series.

Nick Kennerley, head of TV at SSM Freesports: "We have been sounding broadcasters out since September and there is strong interest in a programme which will develop the international characters of the sport, names like Dimitry Gaag from Kazakhstan, Gilberto Gonzalez from Venezuela, Britain's Simon Lessing and Australia's Michellie Jones. We will be making a major break with previous show formats to do this - we've got a great programme on our hands."

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World Champs swim site closed in Perth

February 18, Perth, Australia (www.slowtwitch.com):

Triathletes can blame the seasonal algal bloom for the recent closure the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia, the very site where the swim portion of the ITU World Championships is set to take place on April 29-30.

But organizers of the World Championships are optimistic that people will be able to return to the river within two weeks. Local health authorities have closed the river to all water activities because of the presence of a rare algal bloom.

Unseasonal January rains and accompanying still conditions have meant that an unusual quantity of fresh water is present in the normally salty river -- providing perfect breeding conditions for the algae.

Noted World Champs organizers in a press release: "Algal blooms are a regular summer occurrence in the Swan River, although this outbreak is unprecedented in its size and spread," said Swan River Trust manager Darryl Miller.

Firefighters and environmental health agencies are currently spraying tons of sea water into the badly affected coves to speed up the break down of the algae.

Toni O’Donnell, the executive director for the World Champs, said: "We are aware that national triathlon federations and competitors are concerned about the outbreak, and the effect it will have on the race. We can assure people that this algae is a regular, natural occurrence in the river here and that the authorities in Perth are taking all precautions to ensure the area is safe."

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Playing with points: ITU goes retro

February 13, Vancouver, B.C., Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

Triathletes who raced both the 1999 Pan American Games and the 1999 European Championships will have their world rankings readjusted, now that the ITU has decided to retroactively award points to triathletes who won´t have a chance to race regional championships before the Olympic-qualifying points cutoff.

In an astonishing move last week, the ITU responded to a plea from Triathlon Canada to review how athletes from both the Americans and European regions would be disadvantaged by holding their 2000 championships after the May 2 deadline. As a result, those athletes would miss out on both automatic qualification for the 2000 World Championships in Perth in April -- as well as personal and country world rankings that are so critical to Olympic qualification.

Athletes from Oceania, Africa and Asia will all have raced their 2000 regional championships before May 2, but Americas and Europeans won´t have the advantage of racing for higher and deeper points. In at last recognizing that problem, the ITU announced that those who scored points in the European Championships, and who placed in the top-15 of the Pan American Games, will retroactively receive 50 percent more points for those performances.

However, the ITU´s solution -- though well-intentioned -- seems to still leave athletes from Canada, the United States and Mexico at a disadvantage. While three men and three women from each of those countries raced the Pan Am Games, so did athletes from South America and the Caribbean and Central American regions. The South American and CAC athletes ALREADY received regional points in 1999 -- so their ITU world rankings will reflect two doses of regional points from 1999.

A fairer equalizer would put the 1999 North American Regional Championship on par with the four others, rather than boosting the Pan American Games -- for which Olympic slots were awarded, but not ITU points. (Like the Goodwill Games of 1998, the Pan Am Games fell outside of the ITU domain). It´s perhaps the Canadians, Americans and Mexicans who raced the North American Regional Championships -- at the Wilkes-Barre Triathlon last August -- who should be receiving the retroactive boost to their world and country rankings, rather than those who raced in the closed-field Pan Am Games.

Interestingly, a similar query to ITU from USA Triathlon -- suggesting that the only pre-May 2 ITU Points Race in the U.S. on April 29 be allowed to provide regional-championship-level points -- had been rebuffed only a few weeks before the Triathlon Canada proposal was accepted.

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ITU dropping its standards for Points Races?

February 8, Vancouver, B.C., Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

The International Triathlon Union started a system of "second-tier" ITU-approved races for the world's triathletes in 1998: Triathletes who weren't getting included in World Cup fields could still earn world-ranking points through dozens of races that are considered a step below World Cup competition.

However, at least five of the 31 ITU Points Races so far scheduled for 2000 are falling short of the minimum US$10,000 prize money that triathletes have come to expect of ITU Points Races. The most recently announced race for ITU Points status, at Fortaleza City, Brazil, on March 19, is said to be offering just US$2,000 total.

Two more races in 2000 have prize lists that small or even smaller: The January 23 race in Licanray, Chile, paid out $2,000. On February 26 in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, triathletes will race for just R10,000 -- the equivalent of US$1,574 total.

Also, the Prague Triathlon on July 16 has revealed its prize money will likely total just $5000. And while the June 18 Windsor Triathlon has not yet announced its prize money, it's expected to match last year's amount of £5000 -- or just $8,500.

The Prague race will also be a sprint-distance event, rather than the usual Olympic-distance that triathletes race for world-ranking points. The sprint distance format was substituted because that's how the local television contract was drawn up -- the sprint distance allows for live coverage.

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Top 125? The Americans have it wrong

February 4, Colorado Springs, Colorado (www.slowtwitch.com):

When Lauren Jensen was placing ninth in the Licanray Triathlon, an ITU Points Race in Chile, her husband back home in Wisconsin was already adding up the numbers. Her 100 points for finishing ninth moved her up to a No. 177 ranking -- "So now Lauren has about 52 places to go!," Todd Jensen wrote in an e-mail on that January 23 weekend.

That's 52 places she needed to climb through the ITU rankings in order to break into the world's top 125. And that would land her an invitation to the biggest non-ITU race of the year, the U.S. Olympic Trials Triathlon in Dallas, Texas, next May 27-28.

While Lauren Jensen -- and every other American triathlete who dreams of the Olympics -- may be correct in how an athlete gets to the starting line in Dallas, she has been sadly misinformed as to how athletes get to the Olympics: and by her own federation, no less.

Doug Friman, who currently ranks No. 106, is one of those who was told in mid-December that the ITU had changed its Olympic-qualifying rules to consider all athletes in the top-125 -- not just in the top-100 -- eligible for the Olympics.

As late as Tuesday, even USAT President Michael Highfield appeared to believe as much. "The ITU has now said everyone in top 125 is eligible for the Olympics," Highfield wrote to TriathlonLive.com in response to a query on the Trials race. "So if Doug (Friman) wins in Dallas and is 106, he gets to go (to the Olympics)."

By Thursday, however, it is unclear whether anyone at the USAT national office had yet realized that they were working under a false assumption. The ITU had never changed its rules. And only on Friday did the ITU realize that the American federation has it wrong.

Officials at both USAT and ITU surmise that a miscommunication has occurred -- and badly. Still, as this article posts to the website on Friday afternoon, the USAT has not yet broken the news to its athletes that they need to be in the top 100 -- not just the top 125, as USAT told them nearly two months ago -- to make the Olympic team.

After checking with several American athletes, various individuals within the U.S. federation, some European federation heads and the highest levels of the ITU, TriathlonLive.com has determined how all this may have gone wrong -- just as the USAT was about to send out invitations to its $100,000 Trials to all Americans in the top-125.

For three years now, triathletes worldwide have raced to gather enough ITU world ranking points so they stand among the world's top 100 on May 1 -- the day the ITU determines which countries get the coveted starting slots for the Olympics.

According to ITU's longstanding rules for how the 50 men's and 50 women's starting slots in Sydney will be filled, countries are accorded either three, two or one slot(s), based on how their athletes fall among the ITU's top-100 rankings. Additional countries who are not represented that way can also gain a slot in the field -- if their top athlete is among the world's top 125.

Based on current country standings and results of the 1999 regional qualifier, the United States has earned three men's slots and three women's slots. One slot for each gender will be filled by the highest-finishing American in the ITU World Cup at Sydney on April 16. The two additional slots will go to the 1-2 finishers in Dallas.

But this is where the USAT appears to have misunderstood what some high-ranking ITU officials may have said in casual conversation over the past few months. Essentially, when an ITU official told someone at USAT that, "the ITU will be passing down the top-100 to select some of the athletes for Sydney," that was misconstrued as a wholesale change in ITU policy to consider ALL athletes within the top-125 eligible for the Olympics.

To wit, the one thing in USAT's defense may be the assumption, on behalf of ITU officials, that a national federation's staff is so well-versed in Olympic qualifying procedures that out-of-context comments can be made by ITU officials without being misunderstood. In an email sent just yesterday from ITU chief Les McDonald to U.S. pro Jill Newman, McDonald says, "[the] ITU has allowed up to 125th place in the rankings for U.S athletes to qualify for selection at the Dallas event." While McDonald, and the rest of the ITU brass, clearly does not mean that a U.S. athlete ranked out of the top 100 would be eligible for the Olympic Triathlon, only eligible to toe the line at Dallas (should USAT decide to let the lesser-ranked Americans into Dallas), perhaps U.S. officials clung to just such a comment when making the announcements to their athletes of the phantom change in ITU rules.

As a result, American athletes were told twice that, as top-125 athletes, they were suddenly eligible, thanks to the "change." First came word by e-mail from the USAT national office in mid-December, and then again in a more formal USAT communication, the January edition of Elite Beat. The USAT's e-newsletter for elites read: "The ITU recently announced that athletes ranked in the top-125 (rather than the top-100 as previously indicated) will be eligible to compete in the Olympic Games, if they qualify through their National Federation. Therefore all athletes ranked in the top-125 will be eligible for the USA Triathlon Olympic Trials in Dallas."

The ITU's intention to include athletes not in the top-100 has been there all along. But it is intended for athletes of lower-ranked countries, such as perhaps No. 116, Jenny Garcia, whose country -- Venezuela -- has not a single woman ranked higher than her. Or maybe No. 117, Agnes Eppers of Bolivia -- again, her country's highest-ranking athlete.

Clearly -- though obviously not so clearly to officials at USAT -- the "top-125" clause was included to assure universality -- more countries -- in the final Olympic lineup for Sydney.

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Barel is on a roll

January 31, Puerto Varas, Chile (www.slowtwitch.com):

Netherlands’ Rob Barel is, at 41, not only triathlon’s oldest active competitor; he is also its fastest-rising competitor. In just ten months, he has risen in the ITU ranks from No. 260 to No. 63.

His push toward the top is due to his win on Sunday in the Puerto Varas Triathlon, the second of back-to-back ITU Points Races in Chile. On January 23, he finished 10th in virtually an identical field he beat this last week.

Barel managed to beat South Africa’s Conrad Stoltz, the winner in Licanray.

Because Barel hadn’t done any ITU Points Races until the 1999 season, his trip up the points table is exaggerated that, in the space of two weeks, he can move up 60 places -- to a point where his ranking is more realistic. Someone like No. 29 Stoltz, however, doesn’t move so rapidly, as he is in the thick of the list where movement up and down is more gradual. Nonetheless, Stoltz’s runner-up racing moved him from No. 33, which is where he was after Licanray.

By winning the women’s race, No. 12 Jennifer Gutierrez stayed at No. 12 -- but solidified her hold on that spot as America’s second-ranked athlete.

(RESULTS)

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Where's the prize money?

January 30, Midmar, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa (www.slowtwitch.com):

Where's the prize money? That's the question that some of the world's Olympic-hopeful triathletes may be asking on February 26 after the ITU Points Race some 120 kilometers from Durban.

There is stated prize money of R10,000. Which, at the exchange rate of 6.35 rand to the US dollar, converts to just US$1,574.

That lowers the bar for lowest-payout ever for an ITU Points Race event: The previous low came just on January 21 in Licanray, Chile. There, more than three dozen athletes raced for a share of the US$2000 -- total.

Such amounts are well below the minimum that ITU has maintained necessary for races to gain entry to the exclusive circle of ITU Points Races. The ITU has sanctioned these third-tier events since 1998, when the world-rankings points earned at these events started counting toward Olympic qualifying.

Those points may indeed be the coveted payoff these days in lieu of cash. However, it hardly gives a positive image in this Olympic year, as professional athletes pay their own ways around the world, just to grovel for the elusive points.

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Triathletes are nearly nil for the torch relay

January 28, Sydney, Australia (www.slowtwitch.com):

Now that 10,000 Australians have been selected to carry the Olympic torch on its journey around Australia, 8,500 of them have agreed to let their identities be released. But of those included on the "athletes and officials" segment of the list, not a single one is a well-known triathlete.

Not Greg Bennett, nor Emma Carney, Jackie Gallagher, Loretta Harrop, Michellie Jones, Joanne King, Miles Stewart nor Greg Welch, was included on the list of athletes selected for the honour. Perhaps that is because the "athletes and officials" list is largely comprised of Olympians -- and Australian triathletes are not yet formally part of that group.

But one of triathlon’s Olympic hopefuls will carry the torch -- Beven. Both he and his father, from the Cairns area in north Queensland, made the cut as community nominations for the once-in-a-lifetime event. They are from Mirriwinni.

Two names who ARE on the “Athletes and Officials” list have had significant links with triathlon in the past, but no longer. Phil Coles, an IOC member whose actions were part of the IOC embarrassments last year, was actually, until last summer, the ITU's general secretary -- since replaced by Mark Sisson. And David Culbert was, until early 1998, a major player the ill-fated marriage of ITU and PSE, a Sydney marketing firm that handled all the World Cup rights for a few years. Culbert was included because he is a past Olympic long jumper.

There is one torch-bearer who has fared well in a triathlon as recently as last May: Queensland's Krishna Stanton. She is better known as a former Olympic 3000m runner; however, she has dabbled in triathlon and placed as high as 10th last year in the age-group race of the Australian Triathlon Championships.

And three more have ties to the sport as well: Mark Dragan, Australia's first triathlete and currently a commentator for Triathlon Australia; Chris Bately, the first Australian triathlete to win Ironman Australia (in 1987); and Peter Reaburn, an age-group triathlete and scientist from Rockhampton, Queensland.

The list of torch runners was announced on Monday. Altogether, sponsors were given 26 per cent of torch spots, Olympians 16 percent, Games staff 5.4 per cent and media partners 2 per cent, leaving the rest to community nominations.

That last category is how Beven made the Olympics-torch list: Now he just wants to make the Olympics, too.

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McDonald previews Commonwealth course in Manchester

January 28, Manchester, England (www.slowtwitch.com):

With Mike Gilmore, the former ITU managing director, no longer around to lodge site visits in advance of all major international triathlons, organizers of the Commonwealth Games 2000 venue got a visit earlier this week directly from the man at the top, ITU president Les McDonald.

McDonald and Loreen Barnett, the ITU's technical specialist, flew in for two days of talks with Commonwealth Games officials in Manchester, plus a site inspection in nearby Salford.

The ITU crew met with two from the British Triathlon Association, ITU liaison Graeme Kempson and race director John Lunt. The Brits took advantage of their distinguished company to lobby for British interests in the international arena. It's a long-term goal of the BTA to bring a World Championship here, as well as regular World Cups and ITU Points Races.

The official ITU view, Kempson later reported, is that if appropriate sponsorship is found and if the BTA can continue to enjoy the confidence of the city officials, then Manchester and Salford could be the venue of an ITU World Cup annually from 2003 onwards.

The smaller city of Salford, which has hosted triathlons before, has stepped up its interest in the sport with the recent appointment of a Triathlon Development Officer. That will be Mark Tweedie, an established and competitive triathlete himself: He was the second Englishman home in the Home Nations Triathlon last August.

Currently working as head of physical education for a local college, Tweedie will start in March on his new triathlon duties. During the schoolyear he will work on taking triathlons into schools; during the summer, he will help promote the Commonwealth Triathlon. The first of those, with Lunt as director, will be August 20, as a precursor to the actual Commonwealth Games triathlon and over the actual course.

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Spain gains, Germany drops, in women's Olympic slots

January 24, Licanray, Chile (www.slowtwitch.com):

On the surface, the 6th- and 7th-place finishes of Virginia Berasategui and Maribel Blanco in the Licanray Triathlon, an ITU Points Race, went little-noticed behind the wins of South Africa's Conrad Stoltz and America's Jennifer Gutierrez.

But by finishing well in the top-10, the pair of Spanish women merely managed to steal one "country slot" away from Germany in the race for places at the Sydney Olymics. The boosts to their individual rankings now means that Spain now has two slots, and Germany has just one.

The effect of the men's race in the race for ITU points is that Italy has stolen a slot from Brazil on the strength of Stefano Belandi's third-place finish. However, warns ITU points-observer John Walker, who did the calculations on Monday, "all of these 'single' slots are very tenuous at the moment, and it is still very early in the 2000 season." (UPDATED RANKINGS)

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ITU Points Races now number 31

January 15, Vancouver, Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

Five races, including three in Mexico, have been added to the ITU's list of ITU Points Races for 2000, bringing the total so far to 31.

The new events on the schedule include May 14 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; June 10 in Ixtapa, Mexico; June 11 in Gyor, Hungary; July 9 in Los Cabos, Mexico; and July 16 in Prague, Czech Republic.

Of the 31 Points Races (which will continue to count toward world rankings through all of 2000), there are 5 races in Australia; 4 in Italy; 4 in Japan; 3 in Mexico; 2 in Chile; 2 in Czech Republic; 2 in Korea; 2 in Netherlands. There are single races in Hungary, Luxembourg, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Portugal, St. Kitts and Nevis and United States.

One date change to note: Anzio, Italy, is now April 9 (not April 14).

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ITU World Cup Questions Linger

January 14, Vancouver, Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

Triathlon's 2000 World Cup schedule continues to take shape with a definitive date for the Brazil event, but question marks have surfaced for the two races that sandwich the Sept 16-17 Olympic triathlon.

The Vancouver-based ITU has confirmed March 26 for Sao Paolo, Brazil, which now opens the World Cup season. That gives triathletes four World Cups (including April 1, 9 and 16 events) and a World Championships (April 30) in advance of the Olympic-qualifying points cut-off on April 30.

But "to be confirmed" status has now been annointed to the Sept 3 race in Brisbane, and the Oct 15 race in London. As for London, it has oddly been all but dismissed in Britain as a non-event: That is, the British Triathlon Association has not made a single announcement regarding its place on the calendar, in spite of repeated inquiries since the ITU first listed it in its December 22 Update.

Interestingly, too, the London World Cup would fall just two weeks after the already-established London Triathlon, which, with 2,000 triathletes last September, has staked its 2000 date on October 1.

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ITU gets to disperse two Olympic slots at will

January 11, Gisborne, New Zealand (www.slowtwitch.com):

After the absolute - though not unexpected - domination of Australia and New Zealand at the ITU Oceania Regional Championships and Olympic-qualifier, the ITU now has two Olympic slots to disperse at will.

The reason is that only athletes from Australia and New Zealand even finished the qualifier. Because these countries will each end up with three slots via the ITU World Rankings, they cannot use the slot. In effect, nobody can use the slots, so the ITU will have to decide what to do with them.

That's the analysis of John Walker, who studied the results after the January 3 event and its impact on the current world rankings. A second significant change in the "world order" occurred because of No. 10-ranked Rina Hill's recent switch from Australia to New Zealand.

Before the switch, New Zealand had a solid two Olympic slots, but had to pass four other countries for a third slot. With that switch and the results of the Oceania regional, New Zealand is now proudly perched in third place in the country rankings, with a very solid three Olympic slots.


The loser in this switch is Switzerland, which goes from being the last country with three slots to just another country with two. The Swiss women would need to improve their ITU World Rankings by a total of 32 places in order to get that slot back. So instead of working together to preserve that third slot, Walker reasoned, it now looks like Brigitte McMahon and Natascha Badmann will get to fight for the second Swiss Olympic slot (after the higher-ranked Magali Messmer claims hers).

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ETU race directors meet in Paris

January 11, Paris, France (www.slowtwitch.com): European race directors will gather in Paris from January 14-16 for sessions relating to a range of race-organization aspects.

The European Triathlon Union is the host for the meetings, which take place at the INSEP sports institute. The ETU Executive Board will also be meeting concurrently.

Among the "talking points" scheduled for the weekend:

- general presentation of races (considering both the good and bad);
- upcoming changes in race-organizing trends;
- working with sponsors, including proposals for improved relationships;
- analyses and suggestions for technical portions of race venues;
- understanding how television wants to work with races;
- maximizing potential visibility via websites and the Internet (including
online registration);
- working with results services, etc.

Any persons who have not yet registered are welcome. Please contact Erika
Konig-Zenz.

OLYMPIC/ITU NEWS AFTER SEPTEMBER 1, '00.

BELOW

• The "Sydney 100": Who's racing the Olympic triathlons
• SOCOG complies with ITU's wetsuits request
• Fewell fuels four-person announcing team for Sydney
• Spurned Mata doesn't understand NOC decision
• Ireland joins as 6th federation for anti-ITU petition
• ITU's Barnett makes contact with Costa Rica's Mata
• ITU, Costa Rica at odds over offer of Olympic slot
• Australian article takes its turn with McDonald
• Inside Triathlon report: ITU faces court challenge
• IOC says ITU can adjust the Olympic fields
• On triathlon's big day, here's who's in charge
• Triathlon's Coles gets his torch run on the beach
• ITU's website in trouble as Worldsport.com collapses
• Triathlon is Olympics' first sell-out sport
• Ireland's McKnight can't get answers from ITU
• Progress for PATCO? We'll see in San Andrés
• No ITU World Sprint Championships for 2000 after all
• ITU Points Races march on
• ITU to issue roll-down Olympic slots after June 1st
• ITU tips its hand for Olympic "wild cards"
• More Olympic triathlon tickets on sale on Wednesday
• McDonald cover-boy of Sport Intern again.
• Beaumont departs Perth -- for Sydney
• Sportsworld deal is signed, announced
• Which countries go to Sydney? ITU tells us today
• Carter featured on NBC’s Olympic Show
• Triathlon racing: Full steam ahead!
• ITU asks regions to reconsider pre-May 2
• PATCO grapples with a power struggle
• South Americans get boost in ITU rankings
• TV trade mag: ITU may face lawsuits
• Olympic qualifying rankings newly updated
• ITU gets new marketing partner
• World Chams swim site closed
• ITU re-counting points
• ITU dropping standards for points races?
• The US heard it wrong, or ITU said it wrong, is it 125 or 100?
• Barel is on a roll
• Where's the money?
• Triathletes almost nil for torch relay
• McDonald previews Commonwealth Games course in Manchester
• Spain gains, Germany drops in womens Olympic slots
• ITU points races number 31 as of 1-15
• ITU World Cup Questions Linger
• ITU gets to disperse two Olympic slots at will
• ETU race directors meet in Paris


RELATED STORIES

• '99 ITU Final Points Standings for:

Men
Women

• Cumulative Olympic Qualifying Points Totals for:

Men
Women