World Triathlon has announced the activation of a new level of events, the Development Regional Cups. Previously called Development Events, these aim to grow the sport of triathlon in certain regions with the participation of athletes only from developing national federations. World Triathlon is working closely with all Continental Confederations to present bids for hosting these events, which are considered in the World Triathlon Ranking and will give the winner of each race a maximum of 125 ranking points.
For competing in Development Regional Cup events, athletes’ eligibile are those numbered 250 in the World Triathlon Ranking and higher. That level should be set as of 31 December of the previous year. All athletes will have to be between 16 and 23 years old, and all events will be run under the sprint distance – 750m swim – 20km bike – 5km run.
Each invited national federation should send a minimum one male and one female athlete to the cup events, accompanied by one national coach.
The participation requirement is a minimum of four national federations and a minimum of 15 athletes per gender attending the event. A host nation can nominate a maximum of 10 male and 10 female athletes. If the minimum national federation participation criteria is not achieved, the event will not carry World Triathlon ranking points.
Invited national federations are allowed to enter more athletes at their own cost.
The events are part of an overall strategy of providing more opportunities for athletes from developing countries to compete head-to-head at the international level, and also for national federations to host events and prepare their officials, coaches and infrastructures to be involved in top level events.
The Development Regional Cups will provide racing experience in their continent/region to these athletes and will create a competitive environment among their athletes to help inspire their future careers.
