I think GB has capitalised really well on it for the past decade+. Age group Tri in Britain goes from strength to strength, esp. Building on the success of the 2 Brownlee (and the story telling bonus of having 2 brothers at the top at the same time, 2x medals in 2012 and 2026, Ali half-carrying Jonny over the line at Cozumel, etc.

If you mean 'how does the USA capitalise on it?' Then that a good Q.

I think that SuperLeague is excellent to watch. BUT... I don't want the blue riband (Olympic distance at the Olympics) dumbing down or adding TV ratings bollox if it detracts from the actual proper sport.

We don't see a 5k eliminator before a marathon. For good reason. I don't want some gimmicky eliminator before a real race. What I actually want is MORE of the world's best competing (e.g. the USA and Britain should have had more athletes there particularly in the women's race, rather than making-up-the-numbers for the sake of more countries getting in.

I was meaning world wide really, bringing more exposure and greater benefits for the athletes than ever before.

Whilst in the UK the age group take up is phenomenal, I don’t think there are many athletes outside of the national squads or the handful of long distance pros who can make a living.

Exciting short distance multi lap racing seems to capture the imagination of the non triathlete/armchair sports fan.

I wasn’t aware of the below but just seen this proposal for 2024 - an eliminator! Not sure if any decision has been made yet,

https://www.insidethegames.biz/...hlon-race-paris-2024

Lets see how Montreal goes first, they'll be first to have a WTCS Eliminator
https://montreal.triathlon.org/elite/wts/

Do many of these age group athletes eventually burn out and exit the sport, when they realise that they are never to make it to the top?

Most age group athletes know from the outset they have zero chance of making it at ITU/Olympic level. A few will try to become pro at long course racing ( and some do make it). There are one or two who have been elite at other sports and made the change, Lucy Charles Barclay is a good example.
There is a fairly healthy age group scene though with multiple opportunities for championship titles/national and international success. Having been in the sport 30 plus years you do see lots of high achievers disappear once they have got the national title/been to Kona etc.

I'll not get into this sport if, after trying a few races, I know I won't make it into the elite level. Life is short and it's meaningless for me to train for a sport which I'll never make it to the elite class.

I like the format, works really well at SL but the article I shared seems to indicate a desire for all three formats to be at the Olympics (standard, MTR and Eliminator) but with no more than the current number of athletes. Meaning either some athletes will be worn out or they will pick and choose which race they’ll do (I.e. like the Dutch men did) thereby reducing the fields for each?

Unless you're 15 years old (max) you're already too old to be heading into the Elite classes in any sport except maybe darts or snooker (though I don't really seen either as sports- just pasttimes) or shooting or curling.

I'll not get into this sport if, after trying a few races, I know I CAN MAKE IT into the elite level. Life is short and it's meaningless for me to train for a sport which I'll never REALLY HAVE TO TRY AND OVERCOME MUCH to PARTICIPATE IN.

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

I started doing orienteering in 18 and, after a few years, I qualified in the elite class in FootO sprint and TrailO in my country. Though I'm on the verge of giving up FootO sprint as I'm not that competitive in the elite class and at risk of getting demoted, and certainly not competitive enough if I am in a stronger country.

I want to do two sports at elite level at the same time, therefore I'm finding another sport that I love and one that's reasonable for me to get qualified into the elite field. Apart from orienteering, I have interest in sailing, swimming (open water), triathlon and bridge.

Well, a lot of people do it just because they enjoy it. The good thing about the triathlon age group system is that you can compete without being a pro.

In orienteering, the age group system serves as a qualifier for the elite class. If you make good result in the age group, you will be invited to join the elite class. This is a HUGE motivation for me to compete.

If I know what kind of result I will need to get me qualified as an elite in triathlon AG competitions, I will be motivated to race it to see if I have hope.

It's funny you should bring LCB up, I hope she decides to come down to SC and have a crack at Paris because she's hugely marketable and this is what the sport needs.

Going to be a big void that needs filling when the Brownlees move up, I think she can fill it. If she won Paris she'd be a superstar I reckon, even bigger name than the Brownlees.

She's already got more Instagram followers, sport needs superstars and controversy.

Not meaning to be negative but does it really matter how many pros can make a living at it? Don't get me wrong, good luck to them. Maybe it's an accepted sign of the health of a sport but it sounds like you're suggesting it should almost be the primary goal.

It seems to me that mass participation is more important and if then people at the top benefit from that then so much the better. As an example a Parkrun/London marathon lead running boom would make a lot of people healthier and happier. We may or may not get better elite distance runners out of it or more distance runners making a living at it but it's a more noble objective IMHO.

If a sport is to be professional it needs fans who are no participants. If not, it is a participation sport first and as you said a few at the top may make a living.

I think the only way this can become a sport where casual fans can get drawn in is if they ditch the swim-bike-run format. Run-Swim-Bike would create separation and groups immediately and end each race pretty well ends in a breakaway with a forming peloton behind and a sprint finish with a variety of alliances formed along the way. But at least there would be excitement and suspense. Most pro sports that get casual fans have excitement and suspense and an uncertain outcome.

The only reason we are stuck and fixating on swim bike run is because from a partcipation sport angle you want to close off the water and lifegaurds who cannot be out there all day and close up the roads. But if you want to package up a pro sport, you don't even have that limitation. Just package up the pro sport to compete with other sports, not conform to the baggage of a participation sport.

I find your whole line of comments on here amusing. I hope you enjoy the message boards for the other sports as it is unlikely that you will have the patience to be elite in triathlon.

I may be wrong and if I am, fair play. That said, I’d prefer to root for people who are in love with the sport.

I regard to the coverage, I think triathlon got a lot of positive coverage and momentum for now. Nearly all of that will be drowned out as Track & Field takes centre stage I think.

I am not sure the relay format is a winner in the long run. It is gimmicky (in my opinion), tough to replicate consistently unless individual athletes now want to commit to traveling and being a team together and may earn a more niche spot like mixed doubles at tennis majors.

I haven't been elite at any sport in my life, but prefer having fun to sitting on my ass, so I do it anyway.

one thing i hope that ITU does is to capitalize on their strengths. as noted, the MTR has made for great, exciting racing. when they've hosted, hamburg has always put on a great show and had literally 10s of thousands of fans lining the whole course. that makes for excellent TV.

so lock it in! rather than (or in addition to?) trying to push forever into new markets, go to hamburg and make a great long-term deal with them. give them the world MTR champs, maybe even for a couple of years in a row, and do everything you can to get eyeballs on it through TV, streaming, etc.

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

It's a good question and one that I'm pretty confident all the national organizations are probably thinking and planning about.

I don't really know how it will work for triathlon ... and obviously it's not my job to know. I do think I know that for gymnastics and swimming the olympic impact is felt in local youth programs. So after the hype of the olympics those programs swell in kids which translates to memberships in US Swimming and USA Gymnastics. And a teeny tiny amount of those kids will continue on to become elite years and years later. But in the USA we don't really have a big youth triathlon program ... I don't think. So it's not really a match. Or maybe I'm wrong and there is one already and we'll see it grow and also maybe we'll see a spike in participation in local triathlons in adults. That would be fun.

I guess my question is "who is watching triathlon"

Other than triathletes or their families I have not heard of anyone in the mainstream sports world that watches triathlon to the degree they will change their Saturday afternoon plans to sit in front of a TV to watch triathlon.

This is a niche sport that only participants care about. It basically has no hope being packaged up at a professional level to anyone but participants. Prove me wrong, but I have been deeply involved in this sport since 1985. If the sport had any chance as a pro sport that generates interest outside of triathletes, we had 35 years for the world to get excited.

On the other hand take swimming or track or cycling in the 35 years after 1960 to 1995 and see how they evolved for mainstream. At least those sports have packaged themselves up to some degree for the external media in those 35 years given they were nothing in 1960. Same deal with the NFL from 1960 to 1995.

Bottom line, this thing is staying a participation driven sport.

To give a concrete example, my non athletic spouse will get totally excited to sit through a 100m finals in swimming or track. There is no way she will sit through a 1500m free or 5000m at the track....maybe glance at the sprint finish. 5000m track is an extension of the participation world even though elite athletes do it. Just like ITU triathlon is an extension of the participation world even though elite athletes do it. Regular people don't care about those events. There is nothing happening for a casual observer for the first 10m in of a 1500m free or a 5000m track race. Triathlon there is nothing happening for the casual person other than perople exercising roughly together. You gotta be an athlete to get the nuances and get engaged.

Yep. I love triathlon and even I get bored watching an Oly distance race. It's too long with not much action (especially the bike section when everyone is working together). The relay was much more entertaining.

I guess the ‘who is watching’ is partly my original point. Just because we haven’t been successful before doesn’t mean we should stop trying. The MTR has been met with almost universal approval following its debut at The Olympics. We should build on that and package the sport to the masses. Yes it would need to be short distance, multi lap to hold attention and maybe we go with the eliminator or other type format too. I know this has been tried before (F1 in Australia) but no harm in trying again.