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To the athletes, officials, volunteers, friends of Triathlon and the event organising committee of the 2004 Sater Long Distance Triathlon World Championships, Welcome to the ITU Long Distance World Championships, Sater, Sweden. The Triathlon in Sweden has a long and prestigious tradition, and is older than the creation of ITU. Long Distance endurance events have a great attraction for the men and women athletes of the Nordic countries. Not only Triathlon, of course, but also athletics and cross-country skiing. Hannes Kolehmainen and Paavo Nurmi, from Finland, Gundar Hagg from Sweden and Grete Waitz from Norway still send a shiver down the spine when we look at their accomplishments. Sater has been host to the Long Tri World Championships before, in 1995. A splendid event set in the tranquil and peaceful land of Sweden. Triathlon has much to thank Sweden for: inclusion in the Sydney Olympic Games was a collective effort by many enthusiastic people, but if two persons could be identified as the ones who really advised, encouraged and led the way, it was Gunnar Ericsson, the IOC member in Sweden, and Sture Jonasson, President of the Swedish Triathlon Federation at the time. ITU is currently preparing a series for Long Distance Triathlon. Sater will play a leading role in this development, with the Swedish Triathlon Federation. To the athletes - have a good race. Find time to explore the Viking Land, Uppsala and Stockholm are wonderful cities. And find time to thank Ria Damgren, President of the Swedish Federation and her team for making this event possible. Regards,
Les McDonald, President, ITU |