Europe Triathlon

The 2005 ITU World Triathlon Championship for age groups and athletes with a disability (AWAD) will be held in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sunday, October 9th.

The 1.5km swim, 40 km cycle and 10km run event will be conducted over the Olympic distance.

Over 2,000 athletes from 35 countries have gathered at Waikiki Beach for one of the largest ever World Championships to be staged since the founding of ITU in 1989.

USA, the host country, has fielded the largest team with over 600 athletes, while Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Brazil and New Zealand have entered a record number of athletes.

The athletes compete in 5 year age group from 20 to 80+ with the oldest athlete in the competition being Charles Futrel, USA and the over 85 years category.

Some athletes of note in the competition are: Scott Molina, one of the sports most successful triathletes ever is in the 45-49 category, and John Howard, Americas greatest cyclist during the late 70s and 80s, who at one point in his life held the world speed record on the bicycle.

Another participation record being set at the ITU Triathlon World Championships in Honolulu is the number of Athletes With A Disability (AWAD) that will be competing in Sundays event.  For the first time athletes from Australia will compete in the event, with athletes from a total of 10 countries vying for medals.

The number of countries taking part is very important as Triathlon positions itself for entry into the Paralympic Games.

Results will be posted on www.triathlon.org as soon as splits are available.