ITU is pleased to announce that it has signed the Development Grant contract with the African Triathlon Union (ATU), which is aimed to support the activation of National Federations, as well as provide new and emerging Federations resources for development, as well as Athlete and coaches development.

“We are extremely pleased of the agreement just signed with ATU, as it’s going to be a powerful tool to help the growth of our sport in the Continent”, said ITU President and IOC Member, Marisol Casado. “The plan presented by ATU covers different areas where we want to focus in the upcoming months, such as support to organize events, as well as athlete, coach and Technical Officials courses. The plan is also focussed on supporting young athletes and coaches on their path to the Youth Olympic Games, and we feel confident we will see our sport growing more every year in the continent,” she said.

ATU President, Ahmed Nasser, presented a plan to use the funds offered by ITU to organize Activator Community seminars in Cameroon, Algeria and Zambia, so that they can start planning and organizing triathlon races in those countries.

The grant also covers travel subsidies for athletes from Ivory Coast, Benim, Gambia, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal competing in the West African Championships in Ghana, and same type of subsidies will be offered to Athletes from Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Kenia, Mauritius and Madagascar participating in the Central-East Africa Championships in Cameroon.

In order to identify and coach some young talents for the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, ATU will organize two camps this year for athletes born in 2001 and 2002.