Why don’t you start by signing your post? “Ms Colting” didn’t have a problem signing his.
lol…Ms? 
You make some good points, but I doubt you are gonna get many supporters when you write things like “Ms Colting.”
.
You’re quick.
This is why you don’t want to have oiled-up pics on your website…
Like this one?
There’s worse/better… we need to get ironclm to post…
<< The sport of triathlon was not born of prize money and medals, it was born from the patriot hearts of US Navy Seals accomplishing what no one else had done. We all get a little part of that when we cross the finish line. Don’t sign it.
you might want to brush up on your triathlon history. Ironman might have started with some bragging among a couple of Navy Seals about who was the better athlete, but that is not where the sport of triathlon got it’s beginnings. It evolved out some multisport events that the San Diego Track Club was putting on at Mission bay back in the mid 70’s, a couple of years before the first Ironman event.
I second the request for you to identify who you are and what your point of reference is.
You are right Mtri, no one thinks it amazing to watch a guy ride 4:30 at ironman, or run a 2:40 in a lava field.
I love to see the super fast do what they do, it inspires me, and if you can’t enjoy that, thats on you, not them.
Enjoy your courage dot com.
John Hirsch
www.johnhirsch.org
People don’t watch Kona to see Faris Al-Sultan or anyone else. They watch to see the Bob Weiland’s and the regular folk, who hold down two jobs, while attending college, paying loans, and raising kids.
Ummm, that’s not true. Why would I want to watch ordinary people doing something? I’d prefer to see something extraordinary.
“born from the patriot hearts of US Navy Seals accomplishing what no one else had done”
Gee, have much of an adgenda here?
-Colin
-C
MilitaryTri…
I understand that your original post was a typo when you wrote “Ms. Colting”, so I won’t hold that against you. However, I have some issues with the rest of what you wrote.
Jonas Colting is trying to help the ITU compete with WTC, and deliver a special event for competitors, both pro and age-group. Really, what is much different between a double Olympic and an Olympic? Not much. Anyone who signs the petition is trying to get an event which requires much different energy systems and training demands than regular Olympic distance training. You seem to be offended because he is a top level pro bringing this to mind, not debating the fact that what he states is true.
Though the change may have been initiated by the ITU to attract more short distance age groupers, that does not mean it is the correct change. This is the entire basis of Jonas Colting’s petition, he disagrees that this is a good change. He states reasons why he believes that. He asks if you believe the same to sign the petition. Instead, you simply state a disdain for elite athletes, not providing a case or evidence why you agree with the ITU.
Prize money, number of racers, size of pro category, etc, have nothing to do with it. It has to do with making a Long Course Championship event, a LONG COURSE EVENT! He simply wants to let athletes voice their opinion on such a major change. If there is no support for his position and stance, then he won’t get enough signatures. If his stance has a solid basis, then he’ll get signatures and they should be heard/recognized.
For the record, I am an elite athlete, and I have yet to receive “comped hotel rooms, bikes, cliff bars, and gatorade”. I also have paid many entry fees!
People don’t watch Kona to see Faris Al-Sultan or anyone else. They watch to see the Bob Weiland’s and the regular folk, who hold down two jobs, while attending college, paying loans, and raising kids. That’s why they watch. The total amount of NEWS coverage to the winners is about 1% of total aired footage. The rest is on the age groupers.<<<
I disagree! I do not watch on TV or online to see what Mr. Average is doing. I wanna see elite athletes doing something that Mr. Avg can not do.
And, this 1% of coverage to the winners? I would wager that it is more like 99% to the winners. There was no article in my local paper about the also rans in the race!
I am not elite, and I do not want them to shorten the race. I suck at short races, I do not want long distance worlds shorter. Heck, make it longer!
Do you understand that this petition refers to long distance worlds? This has no impact on Olympic distance worlds. Jeez!
Two posts to your name and they are pretty much a copy of each other? Have an original thought?
People don’t watch Kona to see Faris Al-Sultan or anyone else. They watch to see the Bob Weiland’s and the regular folk, who hold down two jobs, while attending college, paying loans, and raising kids. That’s why they watch.<<
Gag. Speak for yourself. I personally watch (and go to Kona) to see those 1% elites you talk about. I can see the Bob Weiland’s (who the F?) at any race around here.
And personal note to Paulo–don’t be jealous.
clm
Have you read the minutes from the ITU congress at Lausanne where the resolution was voted through ?
http://www.triathlon.org/docs/downloads-congress-minutes06.pdf
Nowhere do I see any mention of attracting more age-groupers, the discussion was about the supposed health risks (unproven), the need to distance the ITU from other bodies (i.e. the WTC) and making it more TV friendly (yeh right - like anyone is going to show more than just edited highlights whatever the distance)
In fact the only mention of athletes was from Rod Barel who argued against the resolution where he “expressed concern that we may be giving away a large group of athletes who only want to race ultra-long events.”
If the ITU seriously wanted to attract more age groupers then they could have started a separate O2 middle distance championship rather than scuppering the existing long distance. I think the O2 champs will struggle to compete against the very similar 70.3 champs - at least the “Nice” distance was significantly different.
Secondly I don’t care if the petition came from an elite or even if Jonas’s motivations for saving the ITU Long Distance race are purely selfish (I’m not saying they are Jonas!), I support the petition (and have signed it as an age grouper) as I do not think that O2 is “long distance” and changing the format reduces the choice of distances and races that I have available to me as a long course athlete.
Thirdly the elites do add significant value to the sport, I for one follow the progress of many of the elites and watch the elite races when I can (in person or on TV), it can be very inspirational
As an age group athlete I would be much more inclined to travel halfway around the world for a champonship race if it was 4-120-30 and a real long course championship rather than an extended short course race. Shortening the race to increase participation isn’t the answer since the age group race will depend more on time of year and location for most of the competitors.
I am not against the 'new ’ distance but then it’s unlikely I would race over this much (probably a one off sooner or later) so my opinion is not worth nowhere near as a much as Jonas’s who focus’s on this. What i will say though is that the AG crowd are a bigger contingent than the pro’s at any event and should be consulted (that said, would they care ?)…
Never really sure to begin with posts like this that are so far off base, it’s . . it’s . . as I said I really don’t know where to begin, other than to say with respect that you really don’t have the best view of things.
admit it - you go to Kona to see elites in sweaty lycra!
there are a few of us out there who don’t take at face value ANY organization’s stated reason for taking any given action.
in the case of the ITU, it has demonstrated two things in the last decade that it would not deny, and that are apparent to the rest of the triathlon world: that it is interested in the well-being of its own athletes, and the list of what it considers “its own” can be limited to what athletes you see in the points pool listed on its website, in addition to the juniors feeding into that list; and that it is absolutely antithetical to any organization that will not recognize the rights of the ITU to bestow championship status (chiefly Ironman and XTERRA).
i think it’s apparent that the ITU has lost the war of long distance triathlon racing. hence, it’s redefined what long distance is. i think it’s naive to think that the ITU took this action for reasons other than strategic battle. it needs to flesh its sport out. right now it offers the world a 5k. it’s like T&F saying, “here’s our sport, it’s contested over 5000m.” that’s not much of a sport. what about the offroad version? the longer and shorter versions? that’s the only distance you’ve got?
so this gives the ITU another distance to contest that’s perhaps something you can get into the Olympics. and don’t kid yourself, within a year or two it’s going draft legal. i don’t blame the ITU for doing this. the problem is, it continues to diminish its own status by carving out an increasingly smaller crawl space inside of the greater world of triathlon in which it exists. i think it’s okay to add an event like it has, but to replace and abandon the “Nice distance” was in my view a strategic blunder.
unfortunately for the ITU, this was a badly timed gambit for reasons that it, and the triathlon world in general, don’t yet know. what the ITU will have achieved is not to create a new championship that matters, it will have lost the one remaining foothold in triathlon it had beyond the olympic format.
one final point: i understand that you’ll disagree with me on this issue, but – as has been stated by others – i think any such disparaging of the petition’s signatories is taken more seriously when you show attach the courage of your signature to the courage of your convictions. you’re new to posting on the forum, and i don’t blame you for not knowing a point of etiquette around here: that you can remain anonymous and nobody will care, unless you go on the attack, and then it’s considered a bit dishonorable unless you do so with your real name attached. otherwise, welcome to the forum and thanks for your views. i hope you become a regular