World Triathlon

3 WORLD TRIATHLON 2017 FOREWORD Dear Triathlon Family, As we reach the end of what has been another entertaining and inspiring season of racing, it is my pleasure to once again introduce our annual ITU retrospective and reflect upon what was a thrilling twelve months in the world of Triathlon. As is so often the case following an Olympic year, we have seen a swathe of new talent emerging from all around the world. This is all the more important as we celebrate the news that we will have one more medal event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the Mixed Relays, as well as 20 more athletes added to our Paralympics quota. This year we held the inaugural ITU Multisport World Championships held in Penticton, Canada, with 3,000 athletes taking part in five different multisport competitions. In total, 507 medals were awarded across an unforgettable ten days, and we eagerly await the second edition on the Danish island of Fyn in July next year. The 2017 World Triathlon Series provided another memorable year for two familiar faces and exceptional all-round athletes, with Mario Mola and Flora Duffy again reigning supreme to retain their 2016 WTS titles in style. For both athletes, bettering their 2016 title- winning seasons looked like a tall order until each had put together a run of four straight wins to stamp their authority all over the 2017 campaigns, culminating in assured performances in the season finale in Rotterdam. Flora's achievements will undoubtedly help inspire even more young women to take up our wonderful sport, and my huge congratulations to our two deserving WTS champions and to all of the athletes who ensured they had to produce great performances time and again to earn those titles. My congratulations as well to the new Team Relay champions, Australia, for their great performance this year in Hamburg. Also this year we successfully expanded the number of World Cup races to fifteen, up from ten in 2016, bringing in excellent new circuits such as Yucatan, Huelva and Sarasota and welcoming back classic venues in Cape Town and Madrid. My thanks to all the local organising committees, host cities and race officials who have helped make this significant expansion go so smoothly and who continue to provide challenging and entertaining courses and optimum conditions for the athletes and fans alike to enjoy. Finally, I am proud to say that the ITU is now among the top eight International Federations in terms of good governance. This is all thanks to all of you, the Executive Board, the National Federations taking care of the athletes and officials, Confederations working hard in development, our committees and commissions members, the officials, leaders, staff, sponsors and organizers, all of whom bring so much to this sport. I hope that you will enjoy this review of the year, and can join us for another unmissable season full of thrilling racing around the world in 2018. Sincerely, Marisol Casado ITU President Marisol Casado

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