Courtesy: USAT

In an unprecedented show of solidarity, International Triathlon Union member nations unanimously passed a resolution to no longer sanction Ironman races, on Friday at the annual ITU Congress in Gamagori, Japan.

ITU's Executive Board asked the triathlon global community to consider the recent actions by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) to create a separate federation to self-govern, self- insure and self-regulate the Ironman series of races.

In the wake of USA Triathlon's decision to remove its sanction of all Ironman races, ITU stated that the WTC's move threatens the integrity of sports' national federations and replaces the focus of building sport participation and exposure with a revenue-generating model to turn profits.

"We must protect our collective interests," said ITU President Les McDonald. "We must protect the intrinsic value that ITU and our collective members have in order to take triathlon and the multi-sport lifestyle to the next level of athlete development and exposure. If we do not do this, any organization with deep pockets can simply step in and create world championship series that have no global meaning."

With the unanimous adoption of this resolution, the ability for WTC to place races in many ITU-member countries will be significantly hampered. Without the support of the national federation, host countries may not be able to secure government funding and insurance for individual events.

Of particular concern to the ITU members was whether the World Anti-Doping Agency's rules and the United States Anti-Doping Agency's jurisdiction would apply to WTC's sanctioned races and participating athletes.

More than 120 countries have now joined USA Triathlon in its position against the Ironman program. The International Olympic Committee and national governments have developed a set of rules and regulations to give national federations the exclusive rights to host national championships in their counties and for international federations to host world championships.

The WTC has ignored that policy by creating a world championship series for its Ironman distance race and a new series of half- Ironman distance races. This has created an unfair playing field by allowing a profit-driven company to attack the domain that has been previously reserved for a single non-profit volunteer- based governing body.

"We appreciate and applaud the global support of our actions against WTC," said USA Triathlon CEO Skip Gilbert. "They are making a mockery of the basic organizational parameters of global sports and their profit-driven motives will ultimately destroy the developmental pipeline that triathlon and all sports need to remain in the Olympic program."