Triathlon Championships of the Small States of Europe Continue to Evolve
This weekend, one of the least known triathlon
ranking tournaments takes place in Luxembourg.
Its lack of notoriety, however, isn’t down to bad marketing but rather
to the very nature of the event: only athletes hailing from European countries
with a population of less than one million can compete in the Triathlon
Championships for Small States of Europe.
The original idea behind the setting up of these championships
was that of having triathlon included in the Games for the Small States of
Europe which a mini-version of the Olympics.
That aim has yet to be achieved, but the decision taken by the ITU and
ETU in 2003 to allocate ranking points to this competition decidedly gave it a
new impetus.
Cyprus’ Bambos Spanoudis spells out what this meant,
and how much it meant, for triathlon in his country. “The Triathlon Championships of the Small States of Europe is
virtually the only chance for the Cypriot athletes to get any ranking points.”
“All other events are either too competitive for
our standards or too expensive for our budget to participate in. The whole of
our funding is coming from the government and we feel that we should not
improvise but enter events with a good chance of producing some results.”
Although Luxembourg has a good number of well
established athletes – including Liz May who finished 17th at last
year’s Olympics - Jean-Pierre Ernzen, sports director at the Luxembourg
Triathlon Federation, feels the same way.
“It was a good idea to attribute ITU Points as athletes can promote
themselves. As you know to be in the top 120 in the world, you have to
participate all over the word, and be competitive enough! So yes it’s true that
it is a small help for athletes of small nations”
The impact of this decision has been far reaching
as Manuel Azzopardi, President of the Malta Triathlon Association
explains. “ITU and ETU recognition has
meant that the TCSSE forms part of an elite group of International Races and consequently
it is not only athletes who vie to be chosen by their respective Federations to
participate in it, but 'states' like Gibraltar, the Faroe Islands, Guernsey
have written to us to seek inclusion for their athletes.”
Inevitably, the championships have helped raise the
overall level of triathlon in all the countries taking part. “The TCSSE has helped to improve the general
level of triathlon in Malta, particularly in the women's category,” confirms
Azzopardi. “In Cyprus last year, Maria
Mifsud Bonnici showed that she has the potential to win it when she finished
just fifteen seconds behind the winner Jackie Komes of Luxembourg.”
The impact on Cypriot tri-athletes was even more
significant. “The increased possibility
of a good performance in the Championships and a place on the podium in
comparison with the other international events made more athletes change their
attitude towards the sport and switch from recreational participation to
serious and systematic training and participation with aim to qualify for this
specific event.”
There are however, divergent views on whether these
championships have made triathlon more popular with the general public. Spanoudis is adamant that they have played a
key role.
“The
popularity of the sport is gradually increasing in Cyprus and in my opinion a
vital role plays the fact that these championships are organized every year,”
he says.
“In the early years of the Cyprus Triathlon
Federation we have attracted athletes from the swimming discipline that wanted
to try an alternative sport. In the last couple of years and after the
successful Championships of the Small States of Europe and the clear chance to
compete abroad with fair chances, more athletes from the running and cycling
discipline are attracted and even young athletes with triathlon as their first
sport.”
Yet in Malta, it would seem that triathlon has yet to
capture the general imagination. “Sad
to say this but nonetheless true: despite the generous media coverage, despite
its Olympic status, triathlon remains a minor sport practised by the few here
in Malta.”
“The TCSSE does attract elite athletes from other
sports, like David Galea who can switch from cycling to triathlon with relative
ease, but popularity remains elusive. If triathlon were to be included on the
GSSE programme it would receive more media coverage, which will in
turn enhance its popularity.”
From Azzopardi’s words it would seem that a real
breakthrough would be made if triathlon were to be included in the GSSE. Triathlon was once again missing from the
list of sports to be held in Monaco where the games will be taking place in two
years’ time, so are they still hopeful of ever making it?
Yes
says Azzopardi. “I believe so.
Certainly not in 2007, when the GSSE will be held in Monaco but I believe that
in 2009, when the GSSE will be held in Cyprus, we stand a good chance of seeing
Triathlon at last on the programme. Cyprus have a young and promising team and
they have the backing of their National Olympic Committee.”
Ernzen is similarly confident. “We have to fight for it. In all the small
Nations we have to introduce a letter emphasizing the history and the
development of triathlon.”
“We already include five countries - Luxembourg,
Monaco, Cyprus, Malta, and Liechtenstein in our championships. In Iceland triathlon is now better known,
they held their championships and will take part in 2006 edition of the TCSSE.”
So I think we do have to choose a responsible of the different countries that
will defend our interest more definitely on Olympic committees.
“I’ve heard that the Luxembourg National Olympic
Committee has already taken note of the triathlon federation’s work and results
so I’m sure that our request will be analyzed seriously.”
Spanoudis continues in a similar vein. “These
Championships started as a test of the ability of the triathlon Federations of
the Small States, with their limited budgets, to stage big events and lead the
respective federations to come together and work collectively for the inclusion
of triathlon in GSSE.
“During the years followed we have proven that with
a lot of effort and volunteer work, this dream is not untouchable. Last year,
when the race was held in Cyprus, it was put under the auspices of our National
Olympic Committee and they have followed closely all the organization aspects
and the success of the race.”
“They are convinced that triathlon is a sport that
deserves to be in the program of GSSE and they have agreed to campaign for this
goal among the other National Federations. In my opinion this is a good step
for achieving our aim since the program of the GSSE is decided by the National
Olympic Committees.”
“Also during the race in Cyprus, the participating
countries agreed to form a confederation with main objective to work towards
the inclusion of triathlon in the GSSE. The statute of the new body was
formulated and agreed in general lines.”
History of the Triathlon
Championship of the Small States of Europe
Lobbying
for the inclusion of triathlon in the Games of the Small States of Europe has
been ongoing since 1991. Yet it was
only when it was announced that the 2003 games were to be held in Malta that a
concentrated effort was made to reach this goal.
The
holding of a competition for all countries taking part in the GSSE was the main
feature of the plan. This was held in
Malta on the 21st of May 2000 and at the time was called the Coca
Cola May Olympic Challenge. Cyprus,
Luxembourg and Malta took part in that first edition.
Monaco joined those three nations for the second edition
that was again held in Malta the following year. However, by the time those championships came about the Malta
Olympic Committee had the informed the Malta Triathlon Association that,
despite being short listed, triathlon hadn’t made the selection.
Even so, in 2002 the championships were held once
again in Malta as they were in 2003. It
was in this year that the Triathlon Championships of the Small States of Europe
received the boost of being officially recognised by the ITU and the ETU with
ranking points counting for World Championships and Olympics being granted to
the winners.
In
2004, the championships left Malta for the first time with Cyprus taking over
the responsibility of organising them.
This year’s edition will be held on the 2nd of July in
Luxembourg.