The 2010 Allgäu Triathlon / ITU Long Distance World Championships is being run on the first triathlon world championships course in Immenstadt, Germany Only a few weeks after the registration process began, there have been so many applications for the ITU long distance world championships (4km Swim, 130km Cycle, 30km Run) that the national quota for German participants is practically exhausted.
According to German Altenried, head of the organization committee, athletes from more than 30 nations are already expected to compete. Almost 50 triathletes from the Allgäu are among the world championships starters competing in the title race on 1st August 2010.
"We are absolutely delighted! However, we are slowly running short of places for German participants, as we can only allocate 500 national start places. The remaining places are reserved for foreign federations," points out race director Michl Rathke.
"We already have dozens of requests from athletes from Australia and the US," says Altenried. As results over recent years have shown, they are both strong triathlon nations. The US athlete Timothy O´Donnell is the Perth 2009 reigning long distance world champion, the Australian Rebekah Keat won silver in the women's category. Starters from the US and Australia took 50% of all top 10 rankings, the other 50% were taken by European athletes. France's Sylvain Sudrie won the silver medal; Martin Jensen from Denmark won bronze. In the women's category Jodie Swallow from Great Britain won the world championships in Perth and Delphine Pelletier from France finished third.
Up to now there is no quota problem for the 28th International Allgäu Triathlon 'Allgäu Classic' over the classic middle distance (2km/80km/20km), taking place one day before the world championships on 31st July 2010. 70 percent of the maximum number of participants has been reached for this discipline. A great deal of interest in the world championships has not only been shown in Germany but also from abroad. Participants from all over the world are already looking for accommodation in the holiday region Immenstadt-Oberstaufen. The majority of athletes will be arriving a few days prior to the event in order to test the courses. For capacity reasons, it is not possible to accommodate all the triathletes in Immenstadt itself, the hosts therefore advise all registered participants to book accommodation as early as possible.
"We can look forward to an exciting showdown in the Allgäu and I am really eager to see how the athletes from overseas in particular, cope with our extremely challenging cycle course," says Rathke.
The cycle course through the mountains of the Upper Allgäu with ascents of up to 18 percent is one of the most difficult triathlon courses worldwide, which will present even hardcore triathlon cracks with a real challenge.
The 2010 ITU Long Distance World Championships in Immenstadt are the culmination of the celebrations surrounding the town's 650th anniversary. Following the middle distance European championships in 2004 German Altenried's team is once again organizing a double event with the Allgäu triathlon on Saturday 31st July 2010 and the ITU Long Distance World Championships on Sunday 1st August 2010.
During the course of this huge event, the holiday region of Allgäu hopes for over 10,000 overnight stays and for an income of about 2 million Euros through participants and visitors.
Further information:
Organisation Committee Triathlon-WM 2010
Hofgartenstr. 1
D-87509 Immenstadt
Telefon: +49 - 83 23 / 96 16-0
Telefax: +49 - 83 23 / 96 16-22
E-Mail: info@triathlon-wm2010.com
Website: www.triathlon-wm2010.com
Press/Public Relations Department:
Pressestelle Triathlon-WM 2010
c/o Jensen media GmbH
Hemmerlestraße 4
D-87700 Memmingen
Telefon +49 8331 99188-0
Fax +49 8331 99188-10
E-Mail: presse@triathlon-wm2010.com
Internet: www.jensen-media.de
