World Triathlon

In 2022, World Triathlon began a new certification system for Technical Officials (TOs). One of the major changes was establishing two levels for TOs at Level Three. Now known as ITO Level 3A and 3B, the highest level of certification is done as an in-person course led by two or more facilitators. World Triathlon ITO Level 3A has an additional day of learning which focusses on content surrounding being a Technical Delegate (TD) at a Major Games. The course was recently updated with the most recent Olympic and Paralympic Games best practices by the three TDs at the Tokyo Games. The World Triathlon ITO Level 3A individuals then join the 3B participants for another three days focussing on managing World Triathlon major events and handling advanced Head Referee duties.

These Level 3 ITO courses are held every four years in conjunction with one another on various continents so that the participants do not have to travel that far to attend. Changing to this two-level system allows TOs to choose which pathway they want to follow and where they want to direct their valuable time and energy.

As with all other World Triathlon TO courses, participants must be deemed eligible and invited to the seminar, along with having their National Federation’s support. However, these courses are always taught in person, including recertification, as opposed to having the re-certification available online. TOs participating in the course for the first time must also pass a take-home examination while re-certifying TOs may be asked to complete certain components after attending the course to make sure that they are ready to take on the complex tasks of a TRI ITO.

As World Triathlon works with different partners, the participants practice using the latest technology that they have at their disposal. For the most recent courses given in Asia and the Americas in September 2022, included the tomorrow weather app, RaceRanger and Oneplan, among others. These introductions to these latest advancements can prove to be invaluable to those attending the course when they go out into the field.

The courses followed the new TO certification pathway and were conducted at two levels (3A and 3B) by Melody Tan (MAS), Leslie Buchanan (CAN) and Thanos Nikopoulos (GRE). Twelve (12) out of thirty-two (32) participants received for the first time ever an invitation to take the next step in their TO pathway at this respective level. Fifteen (15) newly trained officials are women which supports to achieve our gender equity goals too.

Thanos Nikopoulos, Head of Operations and responsible for Technical Officials Education at World Triathlon
“That is super exciting and a privilege to lead the training of these top officials that are dedicated their time to moving our sport forward and providing safe and fair races for the athletes all over the world.”

Leslie Buchanan, World Triathlon Technical Official Facilitator
“The seminar keeps evolving because of the invaluable feedback of the participants so more and more cooperative learning techniques and participant involvement are used to help facilitate the learning. One of the highlights of the course is the group discussions around decisions the participants have made as Head Referees at various recent events and an explanation about how they came to that decision in the heat of the moment.

Even though the course is a total of four days, there is always more to discuss and learn so one of the challenges of the course is keeping the participants on task while satisfying their endless curiosity to learn more. They can tend to want to delve even deeper into a topic. Also, as we strive to do better there are always more areas to be covered. For example, sustainability was a large topic this time around when we may not have spent as much time on it four years ago.”

Kuala Lumpur (MAS)
What motivates you?
Kyrio Suzuki (Japan), Triathlon Competition Manager of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, has officiated all Olympic triathlon events since 2000.
“Of course my Olympic journey from Sydney to Tokyo is over but my life of triathlon journey still continues. Because triathlon always tries new things and never stops moving forward so as a member of the triathlon family, I believe it is my mission to continue to evolve and pass it on to the next generation myself.

How does it feel to become a level 3 technical official?
Claire Hannan (New Zealand)
“I feel thankful and humbled to have had the opportunity to attend the Level 3 course.
It’s something I’ve been working towards for many years, didn’t think I would ever achieve this and am fortunate to have this experience as part of my Technical Official journey.

Key takeaways were:
The opportunity for officials to share officiating experiences and to learn from this. 
The evolution of our sport, being able to pivot and adapt to incorporate new race formats is refreshing.
The various new tools that can be used going forward, these will help us to be more efficient and deliver quality events.

Keith Iwasaki (Canada)
“Well, not a Level 3 TO yet - still need to finish and pass the final exam.  Being selected, however, to take the Level 3 course is very much an honour and I was extremely pleased to learn that I was on that list.

As far as takeaways from the course - so many!  One of the more valuable sessions of the course, for me at least, was when we had the opportunity to discuss different “interesting” situations we had been in as referees, the calls that were made, and how those decisions were arrived at.  I guess the takeaway from that was that we may not always make the same decision in a given situation for different reasons.  Another takeaway from the course is that the sport of triathlon is not static; it is always evolving.  The last takeaway for me was that there are some really fantastic, dedicated, caring people involved in the sport.”

Mexico City (MEX)
“Thank you to the Malaysian and Mexican National Federations for hosting the seminars and offering some cultural, culinary and sportive adventures making this learning experience even more unique and special.

Both courses have been fully funded by the World Triathlon development budget.”

More about TO education & certification pathway: World Triathlon Development: Certification Documents • World Triathlon

Technical Officials Education to be continued across the globe

Besides the Level 3 Techncial Officials Seminars in September,  World Triathlon delivered three Level 1 TO Seminars in three continents hosted by the National Federation of Jordan, Slovenia and El Salvador. All courses were linked to continental or regional events which are part of the continental calendars. These officials will serve and run national and continental events in the future. 

Jordan - 2022 Amman World Triathlon Technical Officials Level 1 Seminar

“The amount of details is just unimaginable! Never thought triathlon is this detailed” - noted by one of the participants.  Although not everyone passed the open book exam at the end of the course, but the learning process makes always a difference: “I didn’t manage to pass the exam this time. But this is a great lesson to know that a World Triathlon Technical Official is someone who has to act fast and precisely! I am looking forward to retaking the seminar in the near future.”

Earlier this year World Triathlon launched a new initiative called: World Triathlon Technical Officials Community E-Seminar. This fully e-learning course helps Technical Officials to start their journey before applying for a Level 1 Course and provides the basic knowledge that they need to have around event organization and competition rules.

In September almost one hundred candidates from Iran, Jordan, Uzbekistan, and Saudi Arabia were enrolled to complete the necessary pre-learning studies on the World Triathlon Education & Knowledge Hub before their Level 1 course starts in October. After the piloting year, World Triathlon will open this e-learning opportunity to all National Federations and individuals who may have an interest in taking a TO/EO pathway in our sport.

The season hasn’t finished yet! For upcoming educational opportunities for Technical Officials & Event Organisers, please visit our website: Development: Courses • World Triathlon.

ASICS World Triathlon Team - Valencia, Spain

The 2nd stop of the ASICS World Triathlon Team project in 2022 was hosted by Spain again. Valencia welcomed five athletes from America, Africa and Europe: Jawad Abdelmoula (MAR), Badr Siwane (MAR), Henry Räppo (EST), Diego Moya (CHI) and Erica Hawley (BER).
After the World Cup the athletes stayed together for an additional day with a goal to gain knowledge on the Olympic Qualification System, World Triathlon Ranking, Race Registration tactics,  Sports Nutrition and learnt how to set goals in their trainings and racing. 

For more details of the project in Valencia, please visit the below links.
Valuable takeaways for ASICS World Triathlon Team at second World Cup of 2022 • World Triathlon
Watch the video

The last project of the ASICS Team will be in Chile at the test event of the 2023 Pan American Games in Vina Del Mar.
Race review & preview : Valencia, Karlovy Vary and Tongyeong World Cup events.

We are entering the last quarter of the year, some important events are yet to come including the 2022 World Triathlon Championship Finals Abu Dhabi. Emma Carney two-time triathlon World Champion and Hall of Fame keeps focusing on race previews & reviews of upcoming World Triathlon Cup events to support athletes and coaches in their race-specific preparation. Last editions of the race previews/reviews:

2022 World Triathlon Cup Valencia:      race preview, race review
2022 World Triathlon Cup Karlovy Vary:    race preview, race review
2022 World Triathlon Cup Tongyeong:    race preview
2022 World Triathlon Cup Miyazaki:      race preview

More details on the World Triathlon Education & Knowledge Hub: Education Hub: Race Previews (triathlon.org)

Coach Education

The 2022 Malta World Triathlon Coaches Level 1 E-Course has concluded on 13 September with 10 newly certified coaches for the Maltese federation. We would like to thank Neil MacPherson (RSA) who facilitated the course online throughout the 11 weeks of intense learning.

The interactive sessions of the 2022 Korea Triathlon Federation - World Triathlon Education Programme (which is also delivered online this year) have been underway on Level 1 and Level 2, and also for an intermittent group of coaches not eligible to take the Level 2 course yet. This latter group is taking part in our “Physiology of Triathlon - Youth and Juniors” CPD course. One of the main challenges of this course is to deliver and facilitate in multiple languages and across a wide range of timezones for our global audience.

Last, but not least those Mexico University of Triathlon Level 1 certified coaches (English speaking) who successfully completed our 2022 World Triathlon Coaches Level 1 Bridging Course for English-speaking Caribbean Coaches earlier this year are now progressing on the 2022 World Triathlon Coaches Level 2 E-Course accompanied by a few Level 2 eligible coaches from Europe. This course is also in its interactive phase with weekly Facilitator Open Hours and Seminars.

On 24 September we celebrated coaches around the world due to Global Coaches Day. Thank you to all triathlon coaches for their devotion, passion, and expertise in making our athletes and sport develop worldwide from grassroots to elite.

NF Open Hours - Technology & Entries

World Triathlon Technology & IT Team conducted the 5th edition of the virtual NF Open Hours on 14-15 September. This time the focus was on the various systems and databases that serve our stakeholders and triathlon fans including the profiles of athletes, events, National Federations on triathlon.org, the entries system, the education hub, the TriathlonLIVE.tv, the merchandising store and API.

The last NF Open Hours will take place in December this year, but before that we are looking forward to seeing you all in person at the 34th World Triathlon Congress on 27 November 2022 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Please visit triathlon.org for the presentation & recording of the Technology & Entries session:

September 14-15, 2022 | Technology & Entries
Webinar Recording (14 September session, French)
14 September Presentation
Webinar Recording (15 September session, English)
Webinar Recording (15 September session, Spanish)
15 September Presentation

More details on NF Open Hours: NFs Open Hours • World Triathlon

KIND REMINDER: Registration deadline - XXXIV World Triathlon Congress - Abu Dhabi, UAE, 27 November 2022

13 OCTOBER - deadline for all member National Federations and Continental Confederations to send notification of delegates to World Triathlon (including virtual attendance). Please find the registration link here: World Triathlon Congress Registration - HYBRID Format - 27th November 2022 (google.com)

Stay tuned for more information on NF Services & Development • World Triathlon or contact us at development@triathlon.org or fedeartions@triathlon.org.