ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championship
ITU Short Course Triathlon World Championship
Ironman World Championship
70.4 World Championship
World Championship; there is a term that is meaningless in our sport, and as I think about it, meaningless in our popular culture as well.
perhaps they should call it the world series?
NBA World Championship? Does anyone else see the irony in that title?
Why? Because N stands for National? 
National World Championship…now, that is a cool concept.
Doesn’t NASCAR call their championship World something or other?
What about the World Championship Wrestling? There’s a real international sport. A new World Champ every night.
I always wonder why major leagues have the “world” title attached to them…the MLB World Series, the NBA World Championship…at least the NFL and NHL have realized that it isn’t a world title (Super Bowl and the Stanley Cup)
.
ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championship
ITU Short Course Triathlon World Championship
Ironman World Championship
70.4 World Championship
100 M World Champion (and fastest man/woman in the world)
200 M World Champion
400 M World Champion
1500 M World Champion
5,000 M World Champion
10,000 M World Champion
Marathon World Champion
110 M High Hurdles Champion
400 M World Champion
3,000 M Steeplechase World Champion
4 x 100 M World Champion
4 x 400 M World Champion
50 M Freestyle World Champion
100 M Free WC
200 M Free WC
400 M Free WC
1500 M Free WC
50, 100, 200 M Backstroke WCs
50, 100, 200 M Butterfly WCs
50, 100, 200 M Breast stroke WCs
100, 400 M IM WC
4 x 100, 4 x 200 M Relay WC
4 x 100 Medly Relay WC
I’m not real familiar with the cycling world, but I know there are Velodrome races on tracks, individual time trials on the road, and possibly some kind of group road race.
Now what was the original question?
Oh, yes: World Championship; there is a term that is meaningless in our sport, and as I think about, it’s become meaningless in our popular culture.
Doesn’t seem all the bad to me. 
The Track and Field World Championships (and swimming) are true World Championships, sactioned by their respective World Governing Bodies, not corporate produced media events.
Problem while the track and field, and swimming International Federations acknowledge the need for multiple distances, our international fed thinks it’s chosen distance is high and mighty, and cares little for the general publics desire for race distances.
As a result we have what we have.
WBC, WBA, WBO, IFB etc etc
With triathlon ‘world’ championships surely it comes down to quality of field, acceptance by the larger triathlon community, and respect of your peers.
To win the Hawaii Ironman is respected as probably the top honour in the sport by all. Calling itself ‘World’ champs makes little difference. Same could be said for the ITU worlds - but I think drafting legal races have reduced the respect and worth (prestige) of the title from non drafting days. However the ITU have increased the profile of the sport and the prize fund.
If the One-0-One champs grow, gain international respect and appeal, and have a quality field then why can it not be a ‘world’ Champ. It fits a hole in the market.
Oly
70.3 & ITU ‘long’
One-0-One
Ironman
Nice range of distances. The likely looser - ITU ‘long’ or 70.3… Depends who sorts drafting, pro prize money, and the other aspects that give an event the profile and respect to be considered by participants a world championships. Hey, if this makes the WTC raise it’s game, and start paying better prize money to the pro’s then it’s good by me. May take a year or two but with a good business brain, and eye on value for money and an athlete focussed attitude this could really work.
I’m wondering if this happens in any other sport governed by an IOC recognized world federation…independent ‘World Championships’ (Ironman, Ironman 70.3, XTerra, and now 101) that are recognized and sanctioned by the member NGBs but the events don’t even exist and participating athletes are scorned by the International Federation of the sport. It seems that Les and the ITU have very little to do with triathlon as it exists throughout the world, other than a very small subset of athletes who compete in a sport that is quite removed from everyone else. Why doesn’t he just make up a new name for HIS sport and move on?
what is the one-oh-one world championship??
Very small subset? Most of the events sanctioned by an NGB are essentially ITU events - it’s not just World Cups or ITU points races. The small subset is Ironman and Xterra. I don’t have the numbers, but I’m fairly certain that the number of athletes competing in NGB sanctioned events run under NGB or ITU rules far outnumber participant numbers in Ironman or Xterra.
This would be the same in swimming. Here in Ontario, most swim meets are sanctioned by Swim Ontario which is under Swimming Canada which is under FINA. Only a small number of events or athletes outside this umbrella (i.e. Masters Swimming).
So I think in the U.S., if it’s a USAT event not run by WTC or Xterra then it essentially falls under the NGB which is under the IF. Only WTC and Xterra events have been specifically excluded.
Dan
But we do have multiple events. They may not be the ITU’s focus in terms of dollars spent but they’re still offered (to both pros and age groupers):
Short Course Triathlon
Long Course Triathlon
Short Course Duathlon
Long Course Duathlon
Winter Triathlon
Aquathlon
Team Triathlon
Sprint Distance (not sure if this is an official World Champ but TriCan has qualifying spots starting for Hamburg '07)
Dan
When did the NBA begin to call it the “NBA World Championship”? The last time I checked, the team that won the NBA Finals was the NBA Champion, not the NBA World Champion.
Actualy I have a friend who is a “wolrd champion” and, though he remains humble, it means a lot to his friends and family.
Frankly, I’ve never been a fan of one who tries to minimize the accomplishments of others. What’s your deal, anyway?
"When did the NBA begin to call it the “NBA World Championship”?
This came from Wikipedia
…Controversially, the NBA Finals are often regarded by league officials and U.S. media as a “World Championship,” implying that no basketball team in the world could compete with NBA Finalists. This issue has become notable since NBA-based U.S. national teams have been unable to decisively win (or even qualify for the final game) at official international competitions like the 2004 Olympics and the 2002 Basketball World Championship.
I thinks its always good to have more races to choose from…even though Im a MOP its still good for more races for pros to make a living in the sport…
Thanks for showing how biased Wiki can be. I’ll have to submit my own version of it to even things out.
Actualy I have a friend who is a “wolrd champion” and, though he remains humble, it means a lot to his friends and family.
Frankly, I’ve never been a fan of one who tries to minimize the accomplishments of others. What’s your deal, anyway?
Berry,
You are missing my point (if I have one). I don’t intend on minimizing anyone’s performance. But, I don’t think it helps the sport of triathlon when a race promoter comes along and produces a series of 2 or more races and calls the last one a World Championship. By law, they can’t claim to be a “triathlon” world championship unless they are sanctioned under ITU. So, they do a clever play on words and say, “70.4 World Championship” for example. I just think this cheapens the term. How about I start a 5K running race series of 3 local races… The “Local-Yokel Turkey Trot Series.” (LYTTS for short). Now I’m going to call the last one the LYTTS World Championship. Do you think that has any merit?
Also, I’m not taking sides with the ITU either. I think it would be incredibly smart on their part if they made the Hawaii IM the world long (or ultra) distance championship. I think that kind of thing would give credibility to the whole sport.