Triathlon punches above its weight among sports

WIKIPEDIA dates football or soccer back to 1888 when the sport was officially recognised in England. Not much later, the rugby league was born, in Yorkshire in 1895.

Almost 100 years earlier in the 18th century, cricket was gaining popularity, but it was not until the middle 1800s when the first international cricket match between the US and Canada marked the first steps in establishing cricket as an international sport.

In contrast to the big three, triathlon dates back to the early 1920s.

The governing body of triathlon, the ITU, was only established in 1989, and the sport made its first Olympic debut at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Clearly then, triathlon can be classified as a fairly new sport compared to the big three.

Ironman is even younger, with the first official Ironman race organised by US Navy member John Collins in 1979 in Hawaii.

Fast forward to this year, Ironman has nearly 100 70.3 races across the world, and nearly 50 full Ironman distance races spread across all corners of the globe.

Nelson Mandela Bay, by the way, is the only city on the African continent to host the full Ironman distance.

An estimated 200 000 athletes participate at Ironman events across the globe annually.

If one considers the buying power of this mass and the economic growth opportunities they bring to each city, then hosting one of these events is a nobrainer.

Whenever these global athletes descend on a city, they leave a trail of socioeconomic benefits that even the big three sports find difficult to match in terms of return on investment.

Think about the number of events, matches and activities that one has to host to get anywhere close to delivering a return.

A rugby test match, for example, will draw a decent crowd of say 35 000.

They will spend a weekend (two to three nights accommodation) and will definitely spend significantly on entertainment and other tourism-related activities.

An independent economic impact study conducted by an international auditing firm during and after the Boks v Ireland test match in the Bay estimated that the direct, indirect and induced economic impact of such a test match is valued at R155-million.

The Ironman triathlon, on the other hand, is a new player in international sports.

Government contributions to triathlon pale in comparison to the big rugby tests.

The investment in triathlon is minimal as these events take advantage of existing public infrastructure, such as roads and beaches.

The Ironman African championship this year had 40% of the field arriving from beyond the borders of the African continent.

These nearly 1 000 foreign athletes stay in the Bay for five days or more.

The estimated direct, indirect and induced economic impact of the regular Ironman in the Bay is valued at close to R100-million.

This is huge by any stretch of imagination for a sport that is less than 40 years old.

What we will address in the next issue of this column is the flow of these benefits.

Who benefits? How do we ordinary citizens or business get to participate not as spectators but as active economic participants? What are the job-creation opportunities?

What most people want are not the easy answers, but visible and tangible change and transfer of benefits.

Ironman triathlon can greatly improve Nelson Mandela Bay’s economic fortunes when everyone feels the benefits.