DESTINATION RACE
The View From Europe
AS THE FAMOUS British saying goes, “Today’s newspaper is tomorrow’s fish and chips wrapper.” In the digital world, and during a fast-developing pandemic, that has changed drastically. The news breaks by the hour, and there’s not much paper left – not even for chippies.
While I write this, we have very few certainties regarding Europe’s triathlon season. Understandably, making sure triathlon events happen is not a priority in these days, let alone a mass-participation event like an Ironman or a European championship.
Even so, there are a few things we can say about this year’s calendar. (But please don’t use this magazine for your next meal of chips if the info changes.)
In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Ironman has pushed a total of 13 events that were planned in 2020 to 2021, including seven fulldistance and six 70.3 races. Meanwhile, 18 of the races scheduled in 2020 could still go ahead before the end of the year.
We’ll see the first Ironman-branded events in Europe in September, with Estonia scheduled to host Ironman Tallin and Otepää 70.3 on the same day and race course (Sept. 5). Finland 70.3 is also expected on the same day. The day after, Ironman has Hamburg (a full), Sables d’Olonnes (a 70.3, in France) and the 70.3 European Championships in Elsinore, Denmark. The full-distance European Championships (Frankfurt) is penciled in, at the moment, for the end of September.
The other full-distance events in the program remain Austria (Sept.
20), Victoria-Gasteiz (Spain, no confirmation yet), Barcelona (Oct. 4), Luxembourg (Oct. 11), Nice (maybe Oct. 11) and South Africa (Nov. 15).
The 70.3 races expected to go ahead in 2020 are RapperswilJona (Switzerland, Sept. 13), Aix-en-Provence (France, Sept. 27), Westfriesland (Netherlands, Oct. 4). Then, at the end of October, Marbella (Spain, Oct. 25), Greece (same day) and Alcudia (Spain, Oct. 31).
If the above races are held, the main concern will be to guarantee everyone’s health and safety. The most recent guidelines on COVID19 prevention for organizers were approved by the ITU on April
30. Ironman contributed to the document, but will follow their own recommendations.
“We are familiar with the recommendations released by ITU, but the Ironman Group has recently compiled its own set of recommendations regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and Ironman events around the world,” says Ergo Kukk, Ironman Estonia marketing manager. “Today, this is the main document we are working with to make our competition compatible with the guidelines from the Ironman Group and with the guidelines and regulations of the Estonian Health Board.”
JOEL FILLIOL
Canadian coach Joel Filliol, now based in Glasgow, Scotland, is the trainer of athletes like Mario Mola, Vincent Luis and Katie Zaferes. But he’s also the Olympic performance director for the Italian Triathlon Federation. With Tokyo 2020 postponed to 2021 (fingers crossed), it was not easy to reshape his athletes’ programs in lockdown. But having some races confirmed again, even more regional ones, has helped give the season some direction.
“We took the lockdown weeks as an ‘off-season,’ so to speak,” says Filliol. “We trained less, with less intensities, and we tried to do some maintenance. Now that we have goals for September, October and November, we restart as if it was the beginning of the year. We build up again, not from zero, but it’s with a new focus. The implication after that could be that the next winter off-season will be shorter in preparation to Tokyo 2021.”
Filliol also says that the off-period and the new build have also helped some athletes to come back from injuries and refresh themselves physically and mentally, and that could be a benefit in preparing for next year’s Olympics.
Around 1,200 to 1,400 participants are expected to race at Ironman Estonia and Otepää 70.3. Yet even these races are not 100 per cent confirmed.
“In these times, it is hard to confirm anything. We are giving our best to organize the event at the planned date, but if there is a second virus outbreak, or the Estonian Government sets additional restrictions, we have to follow these rules,” says Kukk. He also believes that the main hurdles in the organization process are those they will face on race day.
“This is when things get complicated, because every athlete is focused on his or her competition: they want to get their pre-race rituals done,” he says. “From our point of view, this time before getting in the water is the most crucial part of the event, and we are working to design a flow to optimize risks.”
Even for ITU and ETU races, the recommendations remain a blueprint.
“These are recommendations and not rules,” says Renato Bertrandi, president of the European Triathlon Union. “In our own races, the technical delegate, together with several referees, will play a crucial role in both the technical aspects of the race and the uniformity to the rules and recommendations.”
The technical delegate is the person in touch with the local organization who makes sure that the rules and check-lists are respected. In COVID-19 times, their work will be trickier. They will need to make sure the ITU recommendations are in place. Still, they will also have the flexibility to bend them, if practical circumstances require it.
Among the recommendations, some fall within “individual responsibility” and are echoes of the World Health Organization’s proposals to reduce the risk of transmission: keeping at least two metres away from other
people, frequent hand washing and avoiding handshaking or touching the mouth, nose or eyes.
Organizers will need to provide soap and water (or alcohol-based sanitizers) in all common areas, have masks available, ensure the availability of thermometers, isolate persons who become ill and establish emergency action plans if a person is diagnosed with COVID-19. They also need to increase the medical personnel on site and define a place where large quarantines can occur. And, understandably, they need to make sure door handles and toilets are disinfected several times per day. Other social activities – like opening ceremonies and pasta parties – should not be planned. In transition, it is also recommended that each athlete has a minimum of two metres’ space. This last recommendation sounds more like an illusion than advice that’s actually possible to enforce.
Bertrandi thinks that the Elite ETU races confirmed from Aug. 15 (Junior European Cup in Riga, Latvia) will be easier to organize because of the participant numbers. For more significant events, like the ETU and ITU age group championships in Tartu, Bled, and Târgu Mures, he’s less optimistic.
“We’re talking with the European federations that normally send more age-groupers to these races to understand if there’s the mood among their agegroup athletes to take part and travel to Estonia,
Slovenia and Romania,” says Bertrandi. “Normally, one-third of the costs are covered by athletes’ fees. If, after these talks, we find out that only a third of the age groupers are interested, then also the economic feasibility of the event is in doubt.”
Bertrandi says that athletes will have a final confirmation about their races eight weeks before the ETU races, and 10 weeks before the bigger European championships.
The races that seem most likely to go on (though it’s bold to say so), are the ETU and ITU events for elites and juniors announced in the calendar in May. These will include the first races in Latvia, but also the Hamburg World Triathlon Series race and the Mixed Relay World Championship event on Sept. 4 and 5.
“The easiest choice for us in Europe would have been skipping the 2020 season and resuming it in 2021, mostly because countries and continents have been affected differently, and athletes will have different travel restrictions,” Bertrandi says. “But we decided to provide athletes with a race calendar to give them hope and to guarantee purpose to their training commitments during the lockdown.”