Triathlon fans across the globe were able to watch New Zealand’s Bevan Docherty outsprint Australian Brad Kahlefeldt to win the opening leg of the Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series as they crossed the line together in 1:50:25. A photo finish awarded victory to the Kiwi in the US$150,000 event held in the Korean city of Tongyeong and places him at the top of the Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship rankings.
In the women’s race, Australia’s Emma Snowsill tops the Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship Series standings, after crossing the line in 2:02:42 at race one in Tongyeong, Korea.
Building upon keen interest in triathlon worldwide, ITU’s partner, the international sports agency SPORTFIVE, has been negotiating with TV stations across the world over the broadcast of the eight stages of the series. More than 20 partners were at the starting block of the series and aired the opening event either live or in highlights.
“The response from the international broadcasters has been positive,” declared Lars Heidenreich, Executive Vice President International TV of SPORTFIVE. “We expect that at the end of the season our pool of broadcasting partners will have grown to over 30. The top athletes competing head to head to crown their champion before the backdrop of these host cities – that’s a great format for TV broadcast.”
Renowned public broadcast partners such as ARD/ZDF, BBC, RTP and ORF have teamed up in Europe to broadcast pictures from the series. In the Asia/Pacific region, a group of ten individual TV partners including Japanese NHK will guarantee a wide coverage of the different triathlons.
”Live television coverage combined with highlights shows of all our events is a major step forward for the sport,” said Paul Coleman, ITU Director of the series. “The list of broadcasters televising the events is already extremely encouraging and I’m positive as the series grows the level of coverage will only increase. We expect once broadcasters and audiences witness the drama and excitement of live racing, that the interest in the series will continue to expand.”
Complimentary to the live international television broadcasts will be a premium online service giving viewers the opportunity to watch all the races live and also on-demand. Fans can access live video free of charge from each Dextro Energy Triathlon – ITU World Championship race via triathlon.org, but can also download the premium service where the races and highlights shows can be watched in high quality whenever they choose.
