PREPARED BY THE INTERNATIONAL TRIATHLON UNION TRIATHLON MIXED RELAY BID FOR PROGRAMME STATUS THE GAMES OF THE XXXI OLYMPIAD IN RIO DE JANEIRO IN 2016 TRIATHLON MIXED RELAY BID FOR PROGRAMME STATUS THE GAMES OF THE XXXI OLYMPIAD IN RIO DE JANEIRO IN 2016 PREPARED BY THE INTERNATIONAL TRIATHLON UNION TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS Official Letter of Submission ....................................................................................................... 7 1. Executive summary ................................................................................................................... 8 2. Rationale / Reasoning for request .........................................................................................10 a. Rationale for request ...................................................................................................................................10 b. Added value for the Olympic Games .......................................................................................................13 c. Impact of inclusion on the sport and ITU ...............................................................................................15 d. Appeal of the Sport ......................................................................................................................................16 3. Olympic Proposal ....................................................................................................................23 a. Technical information ..................................................................................................................................23 b. Expense ...........................................................................................................................................................26 4. History and tradition ..............................................................................................................33 a. IF data ..............................................................................................................................................................33 b. World Championships .................................................................................................................................33 c. Major Games ..................................................................................................................................................33 5. Universality ..............................................................................................................................34 a. Member National Federations ...................................................................................................................34 b. Number of continents who organise Continental Championships .................................................34 c. Number of National Federations that participated in their Continental Championships .........34 d. Number of continents represented in the top 15 at last three World Championships ..............35 e. Global Spread of Excellence .......................................................................................................................35 f. Universality .....................................................................................................................................................35 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS 6. Popularity .........................................................................................................................................36 a. Ticket sales and attendance ..................................................................................................................................36 b. Media accreditation requests ...............................................................................................................................36 c. TV coverage ...............................................................................................................................................................37 d. Press coverage ..........................................................................................................................................................37 e. New Media .................................................................................................................................................................37 f. Major Sponsors ..........................................................................................................................................................38 7. Transparency and fairness on the field of play .............................................................................40 a. Judging / refereeing ................................................................................................................................................40 b. Certification of officials ..........................................................................................................................................40 c. Selection of officials ................................................................................................................................................40 d. Evaluation of Technical Officials ..........................................................................................................................41 8. Athlete welfare .................................................................................................................................42 a. Anti-doping ...............................................................................................................................................................42 b. Monitoring athletes health ...................................................................................................................................44 9. Development ....................................................................................................................................45 a. Development of the discipline .............................................................................................................................45 b. Development of the Sport in general ................................................................................................................47 10. Governance ....................................................................................................................................50 Appendix A: TV data ............................................................................................................................52 A.1 TV Management report .....................................................................................................................................52 A.2 TV exposure by country ......................................................................................................................................53 A.3 TV Exposure by genre .........................................................................................................................................54 A.4 Breakdown of coverage by broadcaster ........................................................................................................55 Appendix B: Potential for new medal opportunities at Olympic Games. ......................................64 Appendix C: Number of news articles published online for Olympic Sports ................................65 5 OFFICIAL LETTER OF SUBMISSION To whom it may concern, I am proud to submit the International Triathlon Union’s bid for the inclusion of Triathlon Mixed Relay on the pro- gramme of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and a quota increase of ten athletes per gender. The four-member mixed relay, which consists of two women and two men each competing a leg over a super- sprint triathlon distance, has grown quickly since it was introduced in 2009. As someone who has been involved in the ITU since its beginning in 1989, it’s been thrilling to watch this new discipline grow so quickly and the excite- ment and passion that has surrounded it. I believe that this format has the ability to capture the imagination of youth worldwide through its sheer pace and excitement, and also encourage teamwork within sport. I am also thrilled that as an International Federation that has always mandated gender equality, and has had equal prize money since our first race, this format offers the chance for men and women to compete together on the Olympic stage. I would be incredibly proud if Triathlon could become the first sport on the Summer Olympic programme with a mixed relay event. Triathlon Mixed Relay has already shown it can work at an Olympics, after its successful debut at the 2010 Sin- gapore Youth Olympic Games. In the past year, the format has now been accepted onto the programme of the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. The format has been well received by the media, which was evident in the number of broadcasters that took a feed from the 2011 Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships in Lausanne. BBC took the entire feed live in Great Britain, while it was also shown by broadcasters in Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, Chile, Australia, Spain and the USA. Most importantly, Triathlon Mixed Relay has been well received by the athletes. A record 35 teams from 28 differ- ent countries competed in the 2011 Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships, and the eventual gold medal team included the 2011 ITU World Champions, Alistair Brownlee and Helen Jenkins. The message from the ath-