Bermuda and Abu Dhabi to stage 2021 and 2022 ITU World Triathlon Grand Finals

The Executive Board of the International Triathlon Union (ITU) has agreed its 2019 competition calendar, new services for National Federations and the cities that will host the 2021 and 2022 Grand Finals.

Meeting over two days on the Gold Coast earlier this week, just ahead of the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final, after reviewing the bids of the different cities interested on hosting ITU’s mayor events, the ITU Executive Board decided to award the 2021 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final to Bermuda, with Abu Dhabi hosting the Grand Final in 2022.

The Board also discussed the 2020 edition of the Multisport Championships, and decided to award it to Almere, in the Netherlands.

ITU President and IOC Member Marisol Casado, stated “I am really satisfied of the intense work we have done, especially on two main aspects for our future as an organisation - the cities willing to host one of our major events, and the development programmes and the way we work with the National Federations in order to continue to push our sport and bring it to the next level of participation and engagement.

“I feel really confident that with the work that we have been doing during last year, and the commitment from all the Board members and ITU staff, we will continue to push our organization even further. We do have more presence and impact now on both the Olympic and the Paralympic movement, our financial statements are on track, we still are a role model on good governance and we have our strategic plan in place and setting up the path for the next few years, so we can proudly say that 2018 has been an excellent season by all means for us.”

The ITU Board agreed that the three strong and sustainable Organising Committees awarded with major events in the upcoming years - Bermuda, Abu Dhabi and Almere in the Netherlands - “will guarantee the level of excellence required for the pinnacle of ITU’s events, and ... will work together in order to continue growing our sport.”

One of the main topics of the Executive Board meeting was the review of the competition structure for the upcoming years, trying to balance events across the world and extend the calendar to give as many opportunities as possible to all athletes to compete near their continents. The Board members also reviewed the 2019 calendar, which will be presented to the ITU Congress.

With a changing environment and to ensure the global leadership of ITU within the sports community, the Board continued working on the good governance practices and the Strategic Plan for 2017-2020.

After the reports from the Continental Presidents on their activities for the last 12 months, the Board also reviewed the recently created National Federations Services department, to establish and maintain continuous communication and constructive working relationship with all the National Federations, to help all members to develop triathlon within their own territories. A new concept of Development events has been approved in this regard.

The Board also approved the 2018 budget to be presented for approval to Congress.

Image: The Executive Board of the International Triathlon Union meeting on the Gold Coast.