Montreal triathlon scrambles for public health approval
Ready. Set. Go. Not easy during a global pandemic. Two triathlons – one greenlighted, the other gutted under a Quebec health directive. With triathletes disappointed, event organizers blame the uprooted event on bureaucratic dysfunction.
Montreal’s Esprit Triathlon was forced to cancel all races and reconfigure the event into six sprint triathlons because of the province’s 250 person gathering limit. Months of correspondence between event organizers and the Direction générale de santé publique (DGSP), the Department of Sport, Leisure and Physical Activity and the Integrated University Health and Social Services Centre – left organizers believing that athletes would not be included in the 250 calculation.
“The event was put in jeopardy because of bureaucratic incompetence and misinterpretation of rules,” said Jérôme McEniry, the Esprit Triathlon race director. Two days before the event, McEniry was given a new interpretation of the directive from the DGSP that would include athletes in the calculation. This new interpretation meant organizers were unable to run their event as planned.
McEniry’s team came up with a new program for the September weekend. He cancelled all the races and reintroduced heats of 200 athletes to run in sprint triathlons spaced four hours apart. Athletes could participate in the shorter distance race or get a refund.
Loc Pham, an athlete who had registered for the full-distance race, opted to race in the sprint.
“When I found out it was going to be a sprint, I was disappointed, but at the same time I did all the training,” said Pham, who ended up with a personal best that day. Another athlete, Frédéric Roy, who is usually a top contender in the half-distance, said he stopped carb loading and dropped out.
“I’m sad I wasn’t able to compete this year,” said Roy.
Only a week before the new interpretation given to Esprit Triathlon, public health authorities gave the Trimemphré triathlon in Magog the go-ahead under the same directive. The event had 500 competitors and around 1,000 spectators, estimates race director René Pomerleau.
“We didn’t have a problem with the 250,” he said. Triathletes had staggered starts every fifteen seconds and spectators were dispersed
throughout the outdoor site. “It was a flow of people. It was wonderful.”
The Esprit Triathlon is normally the second largest triathlon event in Quebec. In 2019, 4,000 athletes and 10,000 spectators attended. This year, registration was down 70 per cent even before events were cancelled in favour of the sprints. In the revised plan, no spectators would be permitted on the event site, a 124 hectare island in the St. Lawrence river. Upon finishing a race, participants from one heat would leave the site before the next heat entered.
Patrice Brunet, president of TriCon Events, said getting clarity on the health directives is a challenge for his organization as well.
“We’re in the dark most of the time,” he said. “We can’t speak to a person in a position of authority who can give us clear answers.”
Brunet said that he understands precautionary measures need to be taken during COVID-19, “but at the same time we can’t lose sight of the fact that organizing sports is also part of the public health mandate. By training, by being fit, by participating in events, we are contributing to health.”
McEniry said he was prepared to cancel everything if the health of participants was at risk. The proliferation of government departments setting and interpreting health directives left Esprit Triathlon organizers unsure about whose interpretation to follow. Until there is consistency between departments, and as long as the pandemic is with us, what future triathlons will look like in Quebec may only be known come race day.
Public health was reached for comment but did not grant an interview.