AWWWW SHUCKS, no returning for me to the mother land!!! Hahahaa, HAHAHAHA
Dear Jerry,
With the greatest frustration and disappointment, we must report to you that the Chinese government has just informed us that it will not sanction the Ironman race scheduled for April 23, 2006. As a result, our long-awaited and much anticipated inaugural Ironman China cannot proceed as planned due to circumstances beyond our control. Regrettably, we will have to cancel the 2006 race and focus instead on 2007, by which time we expect to have successfully overcome the current obstacles.
We realize that this development is as unwelcome to you as it is to us. For that we are deeply sorry, and we encourage you to enter one of the many other wonderful Ironman races available around the world. For those athletes who have invested themselves in a 2006 Ironman China, we understand that this development is frustrating. However, we further hope that, when all is said and done, you will appreciate the fact we have placed the athletes’ immediate needs above all else and that you will trust us with your 2007 Ironman China entry.
We will of course to be returning all registration fees as quickly as possible—no special requests need to be made. We know who you are, and we know exactly how to reverse the process and credit your payments back to the accounts from which they originated. In addition, if you register for Ironman China when it is run in 2007, we will discount your registration fee USD$50.00 as a small token of our appreciation.
We are most grateful for the support you’ve shown for this new event, despite the glitches we’ve experienced in this first-year effort. We promise to be back again next year, and we hope you’ll be ready to give Ironman China another look. If Ironman is about anything, it’s about persistence in the face of obstacles that seem insurmountable. Well, we’re a persistent bunch, and we’re not about to let this last minute setback keep us from achieving our objective of having China host the most exciting and satisfying Ironman experience anywhere in the world.
i dont see this info on the im china website…i am surprised that they have not made any posts about this on the website and have not taken down the registration link…
This is payback for Mr. Bush telling them they need to become more like Taiwan. It’s true, of course, but I have a hunch they didn’t really want to be lectured.
Could this be because of itu/usat/wtc thing thats going on and the fact china is hosting 2008 olympic games? Wouldn’t think triathlon and itu has that much pull in relation to overall olympics anyone think different or think they may be behind this?
"We are just informed by the Chinese Government that it will not sanction Ironman China due to certain international restrictions. While we believe that these restrictions will be removed in the near future, we are unable to do any event planning without this sanction given the realities of organizing events in China. Therefore, we have made the decision to cancel the 2006 Ironman China and focus on overcoming existing restrictions and planning for a 2007 race."
“This is payback for Mr. Bush telling them they need to become more like Taiwan. It’s true, of course, but I have a hunch they didn’t really want to be lectured.”
It’s that, plus April 23 is the day that China is going to invade Taiwan.
