NEWS

Are you ready for the biggest triathlon experience of the year?

By Paul Groves | 12 Jun, 2019

Thumbs up for Kazan !

As a European Championships, Weert was big. Raced over the standard distance, it attracted a strong-quality field of athletes across the age-groups, from the junior athletes, through the Elite and right up to our oldest athletes in the very senior age categories.

Yes, Weert was big but Kazan, although it will deliver the Sprint Distance European Championships, will be epic. The Russian Triathlon Federation ФЕДЕРАЦИИ ТРИАТЛОНА РОССИИ and Ironstar welcome you.

For many, this will be their first trip to Russia. For some, it will be a chance again to renew their friendship with this fascinating country. Russia has previously hosted a European Championships. That was back in 2013, was for the U23 athletes and was held in Penza. The journey to and from the city, around 600km south-east of Moscow, was one that made it a real adventure and for those who did travel there, the memories of the city, the welcome and the racing will long remain.

Kazan will be even more of an adventure. Sitting on the banks of the Volga and Kazanka rivers, it is the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan and over 700km east of Moscow. The sense of stepping into another world will, for those who have never stood on a street corner and tried to decipher the Cyrillic street signs, be striking.

Named “The Sports Capital of Russia” in 2009, Каза́нь still holds this title and we are lucky to have seen how the event has been building up to become the hosts to the 2019 ETU Sprint Triathlon European Championships. The album accompanying this preview contains a selection of photos taken by one of the Technical Delegates, Alpár Nagy, who has been making regular trips to the venue to ensure that the planning and build will be delivered to you, the athletes.

No doubt those of you who have decided to go have already got your visas sorted, your accommodation booked and your flights and travel plans in place. If the flight is still proving to be a challenge, we have had news about direct flights from Germany that are operated by Aeroflot Russian airlines.

One good piece of advice is to buy a simple phrase book and get to grips with the language before you go. The ability to say “good morning” and “thank you” will set you up well. Make a copy of the alphabet and print this out. Keep it with you and use it to work out what the signs are if there are no translations into English.

The LOC has seen the start lists and knows who to expect. Sunday 28th will see all the Age Group racing and aside from the ETU Championships, the LOC has a huge open programme of races for all ages and abilities. If you are accompanying an athlete and fancy racing, why not check the website and enter one of the open events?

The Ironstar Expo opens on Friday at 09:00, so while you are registering you can have a look at what’s new. There is a bike service available all day for those athletes whose National Federation has not come with a bike mechanic. Check the ETU event website for all important updates as the Technical Delegates will use this website as their main way of mass-communication.

The big thing about travelling to Kazan is to go there with your eyes and mind open and with an extra-large SD card in your phone and camera.

мы будем в казани. ты тоже будешь там?

Safe travels. See you there.


Article gallery
Related Event: 2019 Kazan ETU Sprint Triathlon European Championships
26 - Jul, 2019 • event pageall results
Results: Elite Men
1. Gordon Benson GBR 00:52:03
2. Samuel Dickinson GBR 00:52:04
3. Rostislav Pevtsov AZE 00:52:36
4. Jan Celustka CZE 00:52:54
5. Felix Duchampt ROU 00:52:55
6. Alexandre Nobre POR 00:52:58
7. Igor Polyanskiy AIN 00:53:02
8. Jordi García Gracia ESP 00:53:07
9. Nicola Azzano ITA 00:53:09
10. Constantine Doherty IRL 00:53:12
Results: Elite Women
1. Julie Derron SUI 00:58:49
2. Petra Kurikova CZE 00:59:11
3. Tamara Gomez Garrido ESP 00:59:23
4. Carlotta Missaglia ITA 00:59:30
5. Anastasia Abrosimova AIN 00:59:43
6. Kseniia Levkovska AZE 00:59:53
7. Antoanela Manac ROU 00:59:59
8. Ivana Kuriackova SVK 01:00:00
9. Elena Danilova AIN 01:00:07
10. Yuliya Golofeeva AIN 01:00:19
Results: 16-19 Female AG Sprint
1. Emma Austin GBR 01:13:28
2. Elizaveta Arsenteva AIN 01:17:50
3. Elizaveta Ionova AIN 01:24:42
Results: 16-19 Male AG Sprint
1. Zachary Taylor GBR 01:13:44
2. Grigoriy Baranov AIN 01:14:19
3. Maksim Zuev AIN 01:18:59
4. Vasiliy Zazhigin AIN 01:19:19
5. Nikita Volkov AIN 02:06:35
Results: 20-24 Female AG Sprint
1. Holly Dixon GBR 01:08:30
2. Lemuela Wutz AUT 01:10:05
3. Isabelle Rayner GBR 01:14:06
4. Bethany Joslin GBR 01:14:38
5. Eden Backhouse GBR 01:16:29
6. Anastasiya Orlova AIN 01:17:41
7. Elizaveta Burtseva AIN 01:18:26
8. Cindy Flameyn BEL 01:22:45
9. Sofiya Bashirova AIN 01:27:24
Results: 20-24 Male AG Sprint
1. David Pearson GBR 01:01:12
2. Evgeniy Ostrovskiy AIN 01:01:41
3. Antoine Waltzing BEL 01:02:00
4. Aleksandr Trebunskii KGZ 01:02:36
5. Gregor Weigl AUT 01:03:12
6. Alex Harrison GBR 01:04:24
7. Benjamin Sommerville GBR 01:05:13
8. Ethan Tomkies GBR 01:06:16
9. Alvin Martin GBR 01:08:16
10. David Fryer Winder GBR 01:08:52