The International Triathlon Union (ITU) is pleased to confirm that ITU President and IOC Member Marisol Casado has been designated to serve as a SportAccord Council Member by the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).
SportAccord is the umbrella organisation for both Olympic and non-Olympic international sports federations. It is an international sport organisation with 91 full members (international sports federations governing specific sports worldwide) and 16 associate members (organisations that conduct activities closely related to the international sports federations).
The annual SportAccord Convention is a 6-day gathering of over 2000 leading representatives from international sport. Recently held in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and held in a different country each year, the convention encompasses the Congress and General Assemblies of 3 associations whose members consist of over 100 International Sports Federations and member Associations.
“I am very honoured to join SportAccord as a Council Member. It is a fantastic organisation that unifies sport,” Casado said. “I am looking forward to and take very seriously the responsibility of representing sport bodies in this important capacity.”
Casado replaces former ASOIF President Denis Oswald in the position. The Council is the executive organ of SportAccord and carries out the policies established by its Members. The Council is made up of eight representatives, two of which are appointed by ASOIF.
Casado’s responsibilities commence immediately, with one of her first actionable items having been to serve as a Member of the Spirit of Sport Award Commission.
As SportAccord closes, Casado praised the convention and its fostering of important sport issues, saying, “I found the presentation at the ASOIF General Assembly by the IOC on the evaluation criteria for the sports particularly interesting. It now gives us a clear set of guidelines that we can work towards to benchmark our sport and improve.”
Furthermore, the ASOIF General Assembly also provided the opportunity to connect with important triathlon stakeholders, as well as additional major athletic bodies to discuss new sport initiatives.
Casado reflected that “it was great to both hear and share what is new for different sports. One of the biggest changes this year for us was to once again increase the prize money for the elite athletes, which we were able to accomplish, and our increased TV and media exposure, in addition to debuting new race formats.”
As the convention was buzzing with talk of core Olympic sports and new disciplines, conversations naturally surfaced in relation to ITU’s campaign to include Mixed Team relay in future Olympic programmes.
Casado added, “If it (Mixed Team) gets into the Olympics, it will ensure that National Olympic Committees develop the sport equally between men and women. The event also displays team camaraderie at its best, which makes it very exciting to watch in person and on TV.”
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