Auckland to host 2012 world triathlon final
30 Jun 2010
New Zealand has won a bid to host the final of the 2012 world triathlon championships - the sport’s biggest event outside the Olympics.
More than 4500 tri-athletes, including international stars, and supporters are expected for the event that will not only include the men’s and women’s grand finals, but also seven other triathlon events over several days.
A sporting festival will surround the races scheduled to run from 18 - 22 October, 2012 with the hub at downtown Auckland’s Queens Wharf.
Rugby World Cup runoff
Auckland Mayor John Banks says the triathlon event will enjoy the runoff from the Rugby World Cup in 2011, offering the city’s tourism and hospitality industries a prosperous period.
Triathlon New Zealand (TNZ) estimates the event will have an economic impact of about NZ$30.9m. The estimated global television audience is in excess of 13 million.
New Zealand’s bid to host the world championships was chosen ahead of others from Asia, the Middle East and Europe and the International Triathlon Union says it’s due to the surge in popularity of triathlon in recent years.
Triathlon is the fastest growing sport in New Zealand, according to Triathlon New Zealand.
Triathlon NZ profile
Triathlon New Zealand chief executive Dave Beeche says the event will have a major impact on the sport and its profile in New Zealand.
"This is like having the Olympics come to town for our sport; the very best in the world will race the likes of New Zealand’s Bevan Docherty, Kris Gemmell, Andrea Hewitt and Debbie Tanner in our own backyard, past our own landmarks and in front of a parochial Kiwi crowd."
Activity for the four days of triathlon events will be focused on Auckland’s waterfront and CBD with transition, finish line and spectator viewing areas based on Queens Wharf.
Beeche says the ITU, triathlon's world governing body, considers the wharf a world-class venue for its showpiece event.
Festival course
The four-day festival will incorporate an aquathlon, corporate, age-group and elite triathlons. The swim leg of the triathlon will take place around the wharf.
The elite men and women will run and bike through Auckland’s downtown on a course that includes a tough climb to the top of the central city on each of the eight bike laps, and a fast descent down Queen Street to the turnaround on Queens Wharf.
The age-group bike leg will stretch along the Auckland waterfront to St Heliers Bay and back, and the run leg will circle the Viaduct Basin.
Beeche said that at this stage the event was a one-off, but Triathlon New Zealand is talking to the sport’s international body about making Auckland a permanent stop on the eight-race world championship calendar.
Auckland events
Mayor Banks says the triathlon grand final is yet another successful major event bid for Auckland.
"After Rugby World Cup 2011, we can now look forward to hosting the Triathlon World Championships and Volvo Ocean Race in 2012, followed by the BMX World Championships in 2013," Banks said.
Triathlon in New Zealand
Hamish Carter is probably New Zealand’s best known men’s triathlete.
Carter won gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics and bronze at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, and was rated world number one for several years.
Samantha Warriner is another former world number one, having also won silver at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006.
Fellow Kiwi woman triathlete Andrea Hewitt took bronze at the same event.
Other successful New Zealand triathletes include Bevan Docherty, who won the ITU world championship and a silver medial in Athens in 2004, bronze in Beijing 2008, and a silver medal in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006.
To represent New Zealand overseas or be selected for a World Championship team, athletes must be members of an affiliated club - of which there are 27 throughout New Zealand.
Triathlon New Zealand - the national body for triathlon, duathlon and multisport - is charged with helping foster and grow the disciplines from grass roots to elite level, and claims triathlon is now the fastest growing sport in New Zealand.
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