A DIVERSITY PROBLEM
THE EMAIL CAME NOT SO much as a punch in the gut, but as a thoughtful, reflective question: a question I really didn’t have an answer to, but one which I’d wrestled with for years.
Ever since I stopped racing and launched what I’ll loosely call a sustained career in this sport (my saint of a wife will argue that there’s not much of a career to be had as a triathlon journalist or coach), I’ve been acutely aware that our sport has a diversity issue. Although you might argue that, in theory, triathlon has always strived for gender equity and has embraced paratriathlon racing as an integral part of its identity, when it comes to visible minorities, triathlon is sorely lacking in promotion and participation.
This is why I was hardly surprised when I got Tenchi So’s email in January. So became a triathlete in May 2014, switching from his previous sport of choice, Muay Thai, to triathlon. He’s an avid fan of Triathlon Magazine Canada, a “go-to for tips about training and races.” Since he started in the sport five years ago, he’s completed 24 Ironman 70.3 races and seven full-distance races around the world.
“However,” So wrote, “it has dawned on me that as a member of a ‘visible minority,’ not just in Canada, but in the sport of triathlon, that there is a woeful lack of diversity represented in your magazine.”
You think? I thought to myself as I read his email. For years, as the editor-in-chief of Ironman, I wrestled with the fact that we’d so rarely get any photos of anything other than white athletes competing at events, even when those events took place in Asia or Africa.
“Can you refer me to any volume or issue in the past that has a triathlete of a visible minority featured or mentioned (even if it’s in an ad) in the history of the magazine?” So continued. “I noticed that Triathlete Magazine has had the same problems in the past; however, they have recently gotten better, with an article featured in last autumn’s issue about
the said lack of diversity in the sport. USA Triathlon Magazine has also had a feature article about the need to promote the sport to racial minorities.
“I would like to know, as the editor of Triathlon Magazine Canada, if you agree with my observation and, if so, what your plans are to better promote and feature racial minorities in your magazine, as so far your magazine does not seem to represent the diversity that Canada proudly promotes as a country,” So asked.
So (pardon the pun), this issue offers my answer to Tenchi So’s question, one that won’t even come close to providing any solid
solutions, but hopefully will provide some insights into where we’re at. This special section on “Diversity in Triathlon” will look to address a few different facets of the diversity issue in the sport. We’ll explore racial and gender issues. We’ve also got a great story that reflects the challenges for a blind athlete participating in the sport. There is some insight into a new program that will hopefully make the sport more accessible. One story in 15 years of magazines is hardly a solution to the problem, but we’ll hope it’s a start.