Applications for Team ITU 2013 are now being accepted. The primary objective of Team ITU is to provide support, resources and expertise to athletes from emerging/developing National Federations with the potential to compete at Rio 2016 and to compete at a World Cup level, while at the same time increasing the number of coaches from emerging/developing National Federations gaining experience in the preparation and support of athletes competing at a World Cup level.

Project Outline{exp:list_maker}Emerging/Developing National Federations are invited to submit applications.
  Applications for athletes with the potential to compete in Rio de Janeiro 2016 that have already proven themselves at an ITU Elite, U23, Junior World Championship, World Cup or Continental Cup level will be considered.
  Three (3) World Cup events have been named as the Team ITU events.
  At each of these events a full support team (coaches, bike mechanic and physiotherapist) will be on hand for the athletes selected.
  The group will be accommodated as a ‘team’ and supported as such pre, during and post event.{/exp:list_maker}

Target Group
The target group will be athletes from emerging/developing National Federations who have already shown a high level of competence in World Cup and/or Continental Cup events and are looking to qualify for Rio 2016 but need support in order to do so.

Qualification Criteria{exp:list_maker} Athletes must be registered with their National Federations and have shown the ability to race at a high level.
  The athletes nominated should be committed to competing in the long term and have the Olympic Games as an ultimate objective.
  While there will be four (4) male and four (4) female slots available at each event athletes will be selected at the discretion of the ITU Development and in some cases not all the slots or more slots will be filled.
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Time Line
Applications must be submitted in writing to Zita Csovelyak and each applicant must also be entered by their National Federation for the respective World Cup events with ITU via the online entry method by the closing date for entry for the specific event they are applying for.

Deadlines for Application submission

Event                                                 Submission Deadline
2013 Edmonton ITU Triathlon World Cup       20 April 2013
2013 Tiszaujvaros ITU Triathlon World Cup       1 June 2013
2013 Tongyeong ITU Triathlon World Cup       1 August 2013

Budget
All athletes selected will be funded as follows:{exp:list_maker}  Hotel accommodation (on a shared basis) for a maximum of 5 days,
  Meals – 3 per day (or a meal stipend),
  Bike mechanic services,
  Medical support,
  Coaching support{/exp:list_maker}

PLEASE NOTE: A maximum travel stipend of $500 USD will be provided to each Team ITU Development member per event.

Evaluation
The athletes selected will be tracked over the year to determine their progress and feedback sheets will be completed by all of the participants post each event.

Application form
Please complete relevant application form and forward to Zita Csovelyak on or before due dates.
Click here for the Application Form

Definition and Explanation of National Federation Status:

For the purpose of the ITU Development (Athlete and Coaching) we have categorized National Federations into three (3) categories:{exp:list_maker}Olympic NF’s are those NF’s who had representation at the London Olympic Games through the standard qualification system (excluding universality slots).
  Emerging NF’s are those NF’s who had no competitors at the London Olympic Games but have had representation at the World Triathlon Grand Final in the Elite, U23 or Junior Categories in the past two years.
  Developing NF’s are those NF’s with no representation at the World Triathlon Grand Final in the Elite, U23 and Junior Categories in the past two years.
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The ITU Athlete and Coaching Development Programme specifically targets Emerging and Developing NF’s.

Click here for the Application Form