Europe Triathlon

The youth Olympics is an initiative that was conceived by an Austrian, Johann Rosenzopf, who was born in Klagenfurt. After initial reluctance, the idea was taken up by the IOC and in 2010 in Singapore, we saw the first YOG Summer Games with 3,600 athletes participating. The same number came to Nanjing in 2014. Winter Games took place in Innsbruck in 2012, in 2016 in Lillehammer and will be in Lausanne in 2020.

Of the top ten finishers in Singapore, Germany’s Marlene Gomez-Islinger has had victories in Echternach (2011) and was European U23 champion in the 2013 Strobl am Wolfgangsee ETU Cross Triathlon European Championships. A victory in Melilla in 2015 and a 4th place in Madrid this year and she is still U23.

Amongst the men, Austria’s Alois Knabl took bronze and has, since then, continued to race around the world and has mixed distances between sprint and middle. Another top ten finisher who is still active comes from France, Jérémy Obozil. He was absent from the ETU / ITU scene for some time until the recent World Cross Triathlon Championships in Snowy Mountains.

Looking at the 2014 YOG however, it is clear that more athletes who raced there are still active on the ETU/ITU circuit.

Since 2014 we have seen YOG gold medal winners race in Europe.

Australia’s Brittany Dutton most recently had a top ten finish in Tønsberg and, were it not for her failure to stop at the Penalty Box in Karlovy Vary, she would have scored well in the Premium European Cup there behind some very strong older athletes.

The bronze-medal winner from France, Emilie Morier went on in 2016 to take Relay gold in the Nyon FISU World University Triathlon Championship to go with her Geneva European Relay gold and has six top ten finishes since her return from China.

The men’s winner, Ben Dijkstra added a Junior World title when he won the duathlon championships in Adelaide in 2015 and a junior bronze in Cozumel. His medal collection has grown and grown since Nanjing and his performances in the UK have shown him to be a force to reckon with at Elite Level. Still only 18, he has a great future ahead of him.

Denmark’s Emil Deleuran Hansen took the bronze and then in a very tight race in Lisbon, the Junior bronze. He too has made the podium several times since Nanjing and when we look at these athletes and those they raced against, we can see that the future of our sport is going to be strong.

• Youth Women results

• Youth Men results

2014, yes, it seems ages ago but 2018 is getting close, so close now. There are any number of potential medallists racing here in Europe. Being so conscious of the need to provide safe and fair races where these young athletes, so full of potential, can race, ETU focussed this year on the Youth Festival that was such a success in Tiszaújváros and in 2017 that event will move to Lithuania. The 2017 Panevėžys ETU Triathlon Youth European Championships Festival will be a chance for all our potential Youth Olympians to test themselves and to see how they perform against each other in preparation for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games that will take place in Buenos Aires.

With the qualification system now available it is time to start looking forwards to Argentina, to Buenos Aires and the 2018 YOG. As you will be able to see, we will be holding a Regional Qualifier between 1st January and 16th July 2018 and ETU’s Secretary General, Kathleen Smet will be preparing a bid document to be sent out in the first few weeks of 2017. The decision of the host city will be made in Kitzbühel at the Presidents’ Conference.

ETU President, Renato Bertrandi, who attended the Youth Festival this year in Tiszaújváros, gave his support to the process, “I am delighted that so many athletes who raced in Nanjing have stayed with our sport. Our athletes are so well trained nowadays that when you watch the youth races it is sometimes difficult to keep in your mind that they are still quite young. The preparation, from the athletes and from their coaches, is amazing and a clear confirmation that the ETU Development Programme is having positive results. The clock is ticking and Buenos Aires is not so far away now. In the New Year we will release the bidding documents for the YOG Qualifier and in the summer Panevėžys will host the ETU Triathlon Youth European Championships Festival. I look forwards to seeing all our potential Youth Olympians in Lithuania. Good luck.”