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Re: Team USA - Money Grab? [synthetic] [ In reply to ]
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Somewhat valid point, but you just described Kona as well. You're a world champion if you show up and win a race designated as a world championship (by an international governing body or a corporation). There will almost always be someone that would have beaten you if they were there. That's not really relevant unless you're trying to literally equate winning the race with being the absolute best in the world.
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Re: Team USA - Money Grab? [synthetic] [ In reply to ]
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Is there really that big a differnce in the cost of going to the WT World Champs (location varies, but 2023 for duathlon is Ibiza ESP) or, say, Kona (or maybe NIce FRA)? Sure, at Kona/Nice you race in whatever kit you like. But what are the registration costs? Someone racing at Kona/Nice will have qualified at a full distance Ironman event (sure, there are other ways, but this is the vast majority of AG entrants, I think) - what is the cost of that race? - and then the registration for Nice/Kona. USAT National Champs registration is $180 for the most expensive individual event. World Champs in TM, ROM was $210 for my event. So, for the WT World Champs, you'll have about $400 of registration for two races plus the parade kit ($100 for me in 2023) and a race suit (varies with style, but under $300). $800 all in, absent travel. Can you qualify and race at Kona for less? The '...it is a world championship if only those who can afford it can go...' perspective misses the overall relative costs of the WT Champs and Kona/Nice. Unless you are saying that only the most expensive World Champs is the true World Champs?


ETA: typo fix
Last edited by: giorgitd: Jan 12, 23 14:32
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Re: Team USA - Money Grab? [Bryancd] [ In reply to ]
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Totally agree. Did the ITU LC Worlds in 08, 12, 15 and 17. A great experience and well worth the price.
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Re: Team USA - Money Grab? [MrTri123] [ In reply to ]
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MrTri123 wrote:
Is this correct info I have or not?

Cost of the trinsuit at Zoot is the same price they charge for any of their race suits?

The TeamUSA kit price is 20% less than the retail price on the Zoot website. That was not the case with the Zone3 kits. Zone3 charged above premium kit prices for an entry level kit, much less address the quality problems with Zone3.

FYI - My club team kit from Zoot is at retail.
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Re: Team USA - Money Grab? [B_Doughtie] [ In reply to ]
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B_Doughtie wrote:
Keep in mind 1 thing. This is money that is going back to YOUR federation, which can have an impact on you. This isn’t some private organization where you are padding a board room.

This directly goes back to a federation that has oversight and different directives that can improve the sport. It’s not as Iif they are doing this so Tim Yount’s pockets can be filled a little more.

NGB atleast has more check and balances than an “private” company.

Each of us will always have some issue with the way any NGB is run, the same with any bureaucracy.


The aforementioned Tim Yount who heads the TeamUSA side of things at USAT has been involved with getting triathlon established as an NCAA sport for women, they have met the 40 team minimum and while I'm not up to speed on the requirements to gain full status, that seems like the biggest hurdle.

Additionally, they are in the process of rolling out a program to help establish high school teams and looking for volunteers in each state to help facilitate this process. Boots on the ground. Any grassroots traction would have a positive impact on generating new growth in out sport.


I will say that while initially skeptical about the value add of what USAT would deliver from the $75 fee, after all I've done many races without support, in the end I had a different opinion. Tim, Hans and crew made the whole experience much smoother and that's if you didn't have any issues. They had a mechanic, masseuse, chiropractor and doctor dedicated to the 240 or so athletes that were in Abu Dhabi. I saw the benefit first hand when I had a situation I needed help with and was very impressed.



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Re: Team USA - Money Grab? [qngo01] [ In reply to ]
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Yes it is a money grab, the qualification standards are pretty low to non-existent (if you go to the right race, especially for duathlon) and you have to buy a whole bunch of kit
But it may be a worthwhile experience for you. The one Duathlon Worlds I did was well run, very good competition. The kit I got (Roka) was actually very nice, the parade kit no so much. I probably balked at the cost a little bit, but I don't regret the spend.

So I would just put the "money grad" out of your mind and decide if you want to do it. At the end of the day, even the USAT money grab is pretty small compared to the cost of going to Switzerland with your bike.
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Re: Team USA - Money Grab? [qngo01] [ In reply to ]
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Been to worlds twice with Team USA and loved it. Paying gets you the uniform and the ability to experience the camaraderie of being part of a team, which can be as little or as much as you want to partake in but who else do you know in a strange city for a post race celebration? There's the random conversations you'll have with competitors from all over the world sparked by wearing your country's kit. In an emergency situation, which hopefully you'll never need, having federation or team-mates support on the ground may help. Little things like finding a spare CO2 or big things like an airline misdirecting your bike or, heaven forbid, an accident. Even if the parade kit isn't a fashion win it makes connections, like the JFK airport check-in assistant who asked if I was going to the Olympics and called her friend over to say hi (I am ridiculously far from being an Olympian but it made me feel like one!). All that said, you have to do your own cost/payoff for what you value. If you want to race the Zofingen course, surely on every Duathlete's bucket list, and are not bothered about being on a national team in a world championship, you can do it in open classification as a destination race. You'll save around $500 on team fees and kit. It's still going to be spendy to get there.
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