The International Triathlon Union (ITU) has announced that Abu Dhabi will debut on the 2015 ITU World Triathlon Series (WTS) calendar for the first race of a five-year partnership between the Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC) and ITU.
The United Arab Emirates capital city will kick off the ITU WTS season on 6-7 March 2015.
“This is a partnership which represents a meeting of like minds in terms of ambitions,” said Marisol Casado, ITU President & IOC Member. “Abu Dhabi is a world class city and offers a fantastic combination of beautiful water and superb road infrastructure that is entirely suitable for a WTS event.”
She continued, “In our talks leading up to the partnership it became apparent that Abu Dhabi wants to take its triathlon to the next level and expand the sport’s reach in much the same way as ITU is determined to progress the sport internationally.”
While a first-time ITU race, Abu Dhabi has organized triathlons for age group and professional triathletes over the last several years. Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee, who collected gold and bronze at the 2012 Olympics respectively, are familiar with the race, with Alistair having won in 2013, and the brothers having crossed over together last year.
The event, slated as a sprint for the elites with both standard and sprint races on offer for age groupers, will be headquartered at the Abu Dhabi Sailing & Yacht Club where a spectator-friendly environment including a 2,000-seater grandstand, a bike park, a ‘Friends and Family’ area, refreshment kiosks and a kids zone will be built.
It will also feature a ‘swim start’ off the Volvo Ocean Race yacht pontoons on Abu Dhabi Corniche – a first for the World Triathlon Series.
ITU also confirmed that the dates for the World Triathlon London event are now officially set for 30-31 May and will again offer a sprint distance course. The Hamburg and Edmonton stops on the series will also feature fast and furious sprint races.
Abu Dhabi is the only new stop on the 2015 calendar, while Gold Coast returns for the first time since 2009 for a series that will feature a total of 10 cities.
“The World Triathlon Series represents the ‘best of the best’ – like Abu Dhabi – with the sports elite competing in a 10-city circuit, all striving to become World Champion and qualify for the Olympic Games,” said His Excellency Aref Al Awani, General Secretary of ADSC.
“We envisage a host of benefits emerging from this partnership. These include further positioning of Abu Dhabi as a destination for world-class sporting events, additional destination exposure among an influential client base, encouragement of our own youth to join in one of the world’s fastest-growing Olympic sports and the promotion among our own community of the benefits of healthy lifestyles.
2015 World Triathlon Series complete calendar:
- 6-7 March – Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- 28-29 March – Auckland, New Zealand
- 11-12 April – Gold Coast, Australia
- 25-26 April – Cape Town, South Africa
- 16-17 May – Yokohama, Japan
- 30-31 May – London, Great Britain
- 18-19 July – Hamburg, Germany
- 22-23 August – Stockholm, Sweden
- 5-6 September – Edmonton, Canada
- 15-20 September – Chicago, USA
