World Cup event to include juniors

Multisport fans will have more to be excited about when the annual ITU triathlon World Cup event in New Plymouth rolls back into town, with the Oceania Triathlon Union Junior Championships added to the programme in March

2018, and the New Zealand Schools Championships in 2019.

Securing both junior events is a coup for the already hugely popular ITU World Cup race, one that regularly attracts the best field seen in any World Cup around the globe each year.

The elite races will now be complemented by the best junior athletes from the Oceania region competing for regional honours and qualification spots at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, and then the battle for school supremacy in

2019.

Triathlon New Zealand High Performance Director Mark Elliott said the additions provided a huge opportunity for young athletes and their coaches.

‘‘To have a full ITU transition, the blue carpet experience that only a World Cup or World Series race can provide, a quality Aussie team crossing the Tasman, and for the New Zealand coaches and athletes to see the level from across the ditch, it is a win-win situation.’’

Elliott said the experience for the young New Zealanders at such an event was something you could not replicate, and something that would stay with them throughout their careers.

‘‘Being part of a World Cup race is almost subliminal messaging, you get a sense of the ‘blue’ and that follows you through the sport to the Olympics.

‘‘If the first taste for our young athletes is in New Zealand and is positive, every time they see the blue carpet around the world, it creates a great buzz for them,’’ Elliott said.