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ITU News
Update - 12 May, 2004
Thank you to the Madeira 2004 ITU Triathlon World Championship
Committee
It was a memorable event where the organizing committee even managed perfect weather conditions on their idylic island.
Congratulations to all involved and thank you for your hard work.
2004 ITU Long Distance Triathlon Tour
ITU is pleased to announce the 2004 ITU Long Distance Triathlon Ranking Series
The 2004 Long Distance Tour Events are:
- 12th June - Barcis
- 3 - 4th July - ITU Long Distance World Championships - Sater
- 17th July ETU Championships - Immenstadt
- 26th Sept - Nice
All the events are being held over the standard ITU Long Distances of 4km swim, 120km bike and 30km run.
Athlete rankings will be based upon the best three results and one of these has to be at the ITU World Championships in Sater Sweden.
ITU is dedicated to the development of Long Distance Triathlon as an integral part of its event programme. Plans are in place to expand the series in 2005 with events around the world for a truly World Ranking Series.
See www.triathlon.org
for details on how to apply for this year's series.
ITU Official Apparel
Supplier
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T-shirts available here
IOC Commission Expresses Renewed Confidence that Athens will be Ready
Excerpt
from IOC News Release 12 May 2004
After three
days of productive meetings in Athens, the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) Coordination Commission today confirmed its renewed confidence that
the remaining venues to be completed for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games
will be ready on time, and that Athens will host successful Games from
13 to 29 August. This assurance came as IOC members and officials of the
Commission completed their 12th and final meeting with the Organising
Committee for the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (ATHOC) and the Greek authorities,
witnessing for themselves the progress made by the organisers since the
Commission's last visit six months ago.
With fewer
than 100 days to go until the Opening Ceremony, the Coordination Commission
worked with ATHOC through the details of the preparations for all the
organisational aspects of the Games ... The Commission members visited
the venues where some 10,500 athletes from around the world will compete
for Olympic glory, seeing for themselves the construction work being completed
at key sites, including the Olympic Stadium, where half of the roof was
slid into place during the Commission's stay.
Coordination Commission Chairman Denis Oswald stated: "The amount
of work undertaken by ATHOC since the visit of the Commission six months
ago has been evident for all the members to see. We are looking forward
to the remaining test events, where even further progress will be evident
and the hard work of ATHOC will come to life. This will be further confirmation
that the Games will be ready on 13 August.
ATHOC President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki commented:"Since we
began meeting with the Coordination Commission, we have done seven years
work in four years time. As the movement of the Stadium roof has
revealed to the world, Athens has made enormous strides in our preparations
for the 2004 Olympic Games. After hosting 38 sport events in our state-of-the-art
sports venues - testing our security, our operations,
andhuman resources - we can say with confidence: we will be ready for
an Olympics that will be great for the athletes and good for the Games."
IOC Coordination Commission Chairman Denis Oswald, IOC members and officials will make further visits to Athens during the months that remain before the Games, continuing to observe and give advice.
Olympic Qualification
The Olympic Qualification period closed after the
highly successful 2004 Madeira ITU World Championships last Sunday. Following
the event Enrique Quesada, ITU Rankings Manager went to work to finalise
the World Rankings and the allocation of Olympic spots. The entire process
was reviewed by Enrique’s able assistant Jorge Garcia, with the support
of ITU Technical Director Leslie Buchanan.
The final report on Olympic Qualification can be found at URL: http://www.triathlon.org/rankings/rank-2004/quesada-stats/olympic-simulation/women-11may04.pdf for the women and http://www.triathlon.org/rankings/rank-2004/quesada-stats/olympic-simulation/men-11may04.pdf for the men.
By 14 May 2004 each NOC with eligible athletes will be informed about the names of eligible athletes and the number they are able to enter in the Olympic Games Triathlon. May 14 is also the date by which the Tripartitie Commission will verify the 2 invitations and 1 host country spot. A summary of the lists is available at URL: http://www.triathlon.org/rankings/rank-2004/elite/olympic-eligibility/women.htm for the women and http://www.triathlon.org/rankings/rank-2004/elite/olympic-eligibility/men.htm for the men.
Each National Olympic Committee will have until 31 May to confirm that they will use the spots allocated to them. Because of the number of people who are eligible but outside of the quota at this time, ITU will be in regular contact with the NOC to try to confirm this information prior to the 31 May deadline, as we know these athletes and their National Federations will be eager to have the information.
A special thank you to Enrique Quesada who has done such a fine job of applying the Olympic Qualification Criteria throughout this Olympiad. His attention to detail has instilled confidence into the outcome of this challenging task.
- Hamburg ITU World Cup - Event Details, Course Map
ITU Email Distribution List Reminder
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updates are always welcome. Please email ituhdq@triathlon.org the email
address of anyone you would liek to see included in this database.
NF Media Update Reminder - ITU is also trying to ensure that all media
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© www.triathlon.org 2004