Pro-athletes petition against ITU

Triathlon Forum
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In light of the recent decision by ITU to shorten the “long-distance” champs and races from current 4-120-30, to 3-80-20 a few of us at dinner last night seemed to agree that was a very bad decision and maybe in stark contrast to what we, the athletes think. So I took it upon me to write a petition and today at the pre-race briefing I passed it around and yes, just about all elites did in fact agree and sign.
As you can read in the petition, this so-called longdistance race will just be another race where shortcoursers can excell and where the drafting, no doubt, will be blatant.
And why would ITU want to have a race that is so similar to the new 70.3 champs, a self-titled World Champs where there were appaerant (as I´ve heard…) problems with drafting…?
ITU is doing a lot of good things though for eliteathletes at these races and do allow for a more fair race for pro´s racing for a paycheck, than a lot of IM-dot races, such as personal assistance at designated areas and such. Problems like at IM AZ where on multilap-loops on the bike it was really hard just to get to a bottle, not to mention the one you´d want, does not happen at ITU-races. Here you get what you want, when you want (well at least every lap…) which I think is kind of a given in any other pro-endurancesport…
It´s just unfortunate that ITU has sort of given up on LD-racing by shortening these races as they are indeed the only sanctioned and official World Champs our sport has…

And yes, this also affects age-group racing of course but as spontaneous as this petition was written, I (we) concentrated on the elites today (as the race here is tomorrow…

What we´ll do with it, I don´t know but one idea is to get the petition on Olaf Sabatschus´s website for pro´s and to subsequently have it brought to the attention of the ITU…

Anyway, it´s below here for reading:

ELITE ATHLETES PETITION

We strongly feel that the recent decision by ITU to shorten the ”long-distance” held at ITU World Championships, regional championships and other events included in the ITU LD Tour, is wrong, not in compliance with what we, the athletes want and a step in the wrong direction for all involved parties.
The current distances of 4-120-30 is of perfect length for a championship long-distance race. It´s shorter than an Ironman but a fair bit faster and it´s substantially longer than an ITU Olympic Distance, hence; it requires specific and attentive preparations, worthy of a championship-distance.
The decision by ITU to shorten these races, by 2007 and forward, to a so-called “Double Olympic” over 3-80-20 is a blow to the face of all athletes truly committed to the current distances and to the ITU LD Tour.
It will be nothing short of a prolonged version of a standard Olympic Distance race with severe draftingproblems and it will likely be raced by a great number of athletes specializing in the shorter races, already having a multitude of races to choose from…
This decision by the ITU implies great disrespect for all long-distance athletes committed to ITU-racing. Already an unproportionally large part of ITU´s focus, finances and attention is directed towards short-course racing and it´s athletes, and this decision is yet a further step in that direction and directly alienates long-distance athletes.
We, the elite athletes, demand that the ITU annul the recent decision and re-instate the 4-120-30 distance
Instead of basically eliminating long-distance racing as we know it from ITU´s agenda, ITU should instead attempt to increase the status of these races by providing ample prizemoney and focus equal of that ITU Olympic-distance racing is getting.
Maybe then we get an ITU LD World Championships worthy of the name……?

Jonas Colting, Sweden

2-time medalist, ITU World Championships

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Bump. I’ll add my support to this.

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As a former mediocre pro, you have my full (and quite worthless) support.

-bobo

ps- Oh, yeah, that’s what was wrong with all my IM swim legs…I went off course! Yeah, that’s it…

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"So I took it upon me to write a petition "

I guess we will be seeng more of you at WTC/IMNA races after Les McDonald has his conniption :wink:

Haim
.

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If there was a similar petition for age-groupers, you could put my name on it.

Clinton Lahnalampi

Member of OAT
Qualified to race as an age-grouper at the LD championships in France next Summer

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Jonas: When I go elite, I’ll sign your petition… give me 3 years (LOL).

I must say, I like the idea of a double-oly race, but I would hardly consider it long course. The amount of training and discipline required to complete an ITU LD (as it is now) is far greater than that of an HIM, and I don’t believe they should be put in the same category. The same goes for the double-oly… It’s more like a middle distance race.

Good luck with your plight.

See ya tomorrow. #513
Heather.

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Jonas,

I agree and will sign.

Ciao,

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Jonas, will never be a pro, but I sure like the new ITU double distance better than the HIM distance. At least there is some chance the swim leg means something. Now, if they were to just have these races in the US that I could find.

Dave

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“one idea is to get the petition on Olaf Sabatschus’ website for pros”

i don’t think olaf’s construct is just a website for pros. i think it’s the first, workable, permanent, pro union, or at least it could be and should be. for all kinds of reasons i won’t go into here, i think this should be routed through olaf.

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Definitely route it through Olaf. He’s been working with a lot of people now and what’s being done is
starting to have some impact at different levels.

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I am not now…nor likely to be so in the near future…a LD guy. But if there is a website set up where anyone who races in the sport of triathlon can go and sign a petition to keep the ITU from making the LD worlds a HIM…post the link onto this thread. I might only be one…but sometimes that is all it takes to be heard.
I’m in!

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I agree with Dan.

Professional triathletes, at all levels need to start to stand together and speak up on the issues that directly concern their racing and their livelyhood. I never hear these guys/gals say ANYTHING publicaly against anyone!!(ITU, WTC etc. . .) yet there are some very obvious grievences that just seem to drift along and never get addressed.

Fleck

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Thanks!

To Dan and Fleck and others posted; thanks for the support and I agree with your comments.

Yes, it would of course be a great idea to have a petition for all athletes, regardless of category. and it may very be a possibility we can do that through Olaf´s website.
Obviously, I haven´t really given this much thought of how this should be further developed as we all raced today (what a tough day it was, huh:)

I´ll get back to this issue of course (like after I eat the huge stack of pancakes before me!!)

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Well, you said it, not me:)

But yes, ITU has in fact not been the transparant organisation in terms of decision-making and what really gives in a lot of cases.

I just think that sometimes we (the athletes, AG´ers, pros, myself) whine and This word is not allowed which means I'm not being very nice at the moment about things we don´t like, don´t approve of and want to see changes in, in our sport, but rarely does it go any further than just whining.
I don´t think this will change anything regarding ITU LD-racing but at least no one can say that we didn´t speak up and take action.

I really applaud Olaf for his initiative on the organisation he´s formed and even put his own racingcareer on the backburner (as it seems, he didn´t race Hawaii as sort of a protest of the draftingrules??) or at least putting a vast amount of effort into this.
Triathletes as a group, and especially the pro´s that make the sport their livelyhood, has in the past been left out to fend for themselves individually but maybe in the future we can have more influence on the different issues that we need to adress like prizemoney, distances (as in this case), drafting etc…

"So I took it upon me to write a petition "

I guess we will be seeng more of you at WTC/IMNA races after Les McDonald has his conniption :wink:

Haim

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Hi Jonas,

I was reading over the published minutes of the ITU Congress 2006, specifically Resolution 2. Downloadable at http://www.triathlon.org/?call=TVRRNA==&keep=sh

The question I have is regarding Discussion item f)

Are the 2008 Long Distance World Championship in Almere going to remain at 4k/120K/30K?

"Resolution 2:
Whereas the ITU Competition Rules do not clearly define the distances for the ITU Long
Distance Triathlon; And whereas all disciplines of an International Federation must be clearly defined;
Therefore be it resolved, that the ITU Long Distance Championships will henceforth be
double the ITU Olympic Distance event i.e., 3 km swim x 80 km cycle x 20 km run.

Discussion:
a) Bill Walker, AUS, outlined the health and safety concerns associated with Long Distance
racing, as published in a paper by Dr. Diane Robinson, AUS
b) Loreen Barnett, CAN, added that we needed to be technically clear about the type of
event that falls within the jurisdiction of ITU. She also stated that we need a distinct
marketing strategy to distinguish ITU Long Distance events from those of other world
governing bodies and private companies.
c) Rob Barel, NED, expressed concern that we may be giving away a large group of
athletes who only want to race ultra-long events. He also stated that the existing double
and triple Olympic distances is a good mix.
d) Bill Walker, AUS, stated that we need to ensure that our athletes are not risking injuries
and related health problems in events which are too long.
e) Les McDonald, CAN, stated that Long Distance is too long for television and spectators
and the time needs to be reduced.
f) Rob Barel, NED asked that the 2008 World Championship in Almere be allowed to stay
at the Triple Olympic distance .

Resolution carried: 29-10

–gary

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Well, as far as I know (and it IS really hard to sometimes find the right facts regarding ITU), that´s a rule up to this year allowing organizers of championships to choose which of the distances they want to have.

As far as I know, again, from 2007 ALL races going as ITU LD, regional and world champs are to be held at the double olympic.

I also know from speaking with Nick Munting in the organisation here at this race that ITU wanted them to run their race today as a double olympic but that they refused and would have thrown the race. That´s what he told me at IM Korea last year..

Since this new rule regarding ITU LD was clubbed in September (I think) I doubt that it´s impact has run through the tri- comminity yet, websites´and so forth, even ITU´s own website.

So, with that argument, I really doubt that Almere can run their 4-120-30. If they do though, I´ll be the first to applaud!

Hi Jonas,

I was reading over the published minutes of the ITU Congress 2006, specifically Resolution 2. Downloadable at http://www.triathlon.org/...TVRRNA==&keep=sh

The question I have is regarding Discussion item f)

Are the 2008 Long Distance World Championship in Almere going to remain at 4k/120K/30K?

"Resolution 2:
Whereas the ITU Competition Rules do not clearly define the distances for the ITU Long
Distance Triathlon; And whereas all disciplines of an International Federation must be clearly defined;
Therefore be it resolved, that the ITU Long Distance Championships will henceforth be
double the ITU Olympic Distance event i.e., 3 km swim x 80 km cycle x 20 km run.

Discussion:
a) Bill Walker, AUS, outlined the health and safety concerns associated with Long Distance
racing, as published in a paper by Dr. Diane Robinson, AUS
b) Loreen Barnett, CAN, added that we needed to be technically clear about the type of
event that falls within the jurisdiction of ITU. She also stated that we need a distinct
marketing strategy to distinguish ITU Long Distance events from those of other world
governing bodies and private companies.
c) Rob Barel, NED, expressed concern that we may be giving away a large group of
athletes who only want to race ultra-long events. He also stated that the existing double
and triple Olympic distances is a good mix.
d) Bill Walker, AUS, stated that we need to ensure that our athletes are not risking injuries
and related health problems in events which are too long.
e) Les McDonald, CAN, stated that Long Distance is too long for television and spectators
and the time needs to be reduced.
f) Rob Barel, NED asked that the 2008 World Championship in Almere be allowed to stay
at the Triple Olympic distance .

Resolution carried: 29-10

–gary

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Jonas,

I agree as well. Let us know how we can sign the petition if we weren’t at the race, in order to give the claim more credibility and justice. Good on ya for getting this started.

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“Well, you said it, not me:)”

People like you and Olaf (as well as all of the other elites willing to sign their names to the petitions) deserve a huge amount of credit for trying to do what’s right for the sport. Unfortunately, people like Les McDonald and organizations like WTC tend to view bowing to any idea born outside of their leadership as a sign of weakness. As Seinfeld would say: They need to show everyone who has “hand”.

I wish you the best of luck.

Haim

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interesting
.

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Well, Olaf has done far far more than me in this respect. He´s done a tremendous job this past year. This petition was really a spur of the moment thing that stemmed from the common complaints I heard among my fellow competitors and I figured that I´d seize this moment and to do a little politicking so that I´d get something useful out of the occasion since I wasn´t going to race all that well anyway. I´m happy that both the petition and the race went better than expected.. Olaf and I are e-mailing eachother now and once I get back home I´ll take it one step further and I´ll post on it once something happens.

People like you and Olaf (as well as all of the other elites willing to sign their names to the petitions) deserve a huge amount of credit for trying to do what’s right for the sport. Unfortunately, people like Les McDonald and organizations like WTC tend to view bowing to any idea born outside of their leadership as a sign of weakness. As Seinfeld would say: They need to show everyone who has “hand”.

I wish you the best of luck.

Haim