Overwhelming? In an election where a third of the National Federations voted for her opponent, I’ll leave that for you to decide, but Spain’s Marisol Casado retained her position as the President of World Triathlon over the weekend.
One of the interesting features of Denmark’s Mads Freund standing against Casado, was his belief that “the governing body has been lagging behind other brands and associations with alternative competitions becoming established”. That would appear to be a clear reference to Super League Triathlon, the Professional Triathletes Organisation and perhaps IRONMAN too.
With a promise to “take on board the points that his candidacy raised”, it will be interesting to see if the World Triathlon seeks closer links with, or to compete against, other initiatives taking place within the sport, and what Freund described as “re-establish World Triathlon as the undisputed leader of triathlon” within his manifesto.
By capturing one in three of the votes cast, that’s a sign those thoughts are not his alone, and if nothing else, provide a gentle nudge towards the current President. It will be interesting to see if collaboration of competition is the strategy moving forward.
Here is the full press release from the XXXIII World Triathlon Congress and elections.
Marisol Casado has received the overwhelming support of the organisation’s National Federation members participating at the XXXIII World Triathlon Congress and elections, winning the Presidential election by 86 votes against 43 of her opponent Mads Freund, from Denmark. The elections came to a close on Sunday evening, with 136 National Federations voting. A week of meetings covering all aspects of triathlon governance was held virtually for the first time, concluding with elections for all positions within the sport’s governing body.
“I am delighted to receive this vote of confidence from our members that is an acknowledgment of all the hard work we have been doing to ensure triathlon’s rightful place among the most popular and fastest growing sports in the world. This past week has shown that the solidarity and integrity of our organisation, our National Federations, our committee and commission members and our athletes continues to define us.”
“I know that Mads Freund shares my passion for our sport and I promise to take on board the points that his candidacy raised as well as everything that has come out of the discussions with National Federations and Continental Confederations. Working with the new Executive Board, we are ready to make World Triathlon even stronger. Congratulations to all those elected today and my thanks and admiration for everyone who stood for and has served on the dozens of positions that are essential to this great organisation. Thank you to the staff for their enormous effort behind the scenes in putting together this virtual Congress. I look forward to being part of a historic 2021 with you all.”
Results of the Elections:
President:
Marisol Casado (ESP) 86 – ELECTED
Mads Freund (DEN) 43
Vice-Presidents:
Shin Otsuka (JPN) 98 – ELECTED
Debbie Alexander (RSA) 92 – ELECTED
Ian Howard (GBR) 74 – ELECTED
Antonio Alvarez (MEX) 73 – ELECTED
Alan Beckford (JAM) 49
Ria Damgren Nilsson (SWE) 43
Majid Amahroq (MAR) 26
Executive Board members:
Gabriela Gallegos (USA) 87 – ELECTED
Bernard Saint-Jean (FRA) 87 – ELECTED
Miles Stewart (AUS) 81 – ELECTED
Leslie Buchanan (CAN) 69 – ELECTED
Karen Araujo (TTO) 52
Shanelle Barrett (NZL) 38
Alan Beckford (JAM) 26
Longman Keshavarz (IRI) 18
Elected members of the Audit Committee
Victoria Brumfield (USA)
Beth Friberg (SWE)
Boubacar Gaye (SEN)
Jamie Gordon (GBR)
Narayana Ramachandron (IND)
Elected members of the Credentials Committee
Eligio Cervantes (MEX)
Jo-Annie Charboneau (CAN)
Maryia Charkouskaya-Tarasevich (BLR)
Xiaoran Chen (CHN)
Mahdi Goudarzi (IRI)
Elected members of the Legal & Constitution Committee
Nasser Alsaied (SYR)
Gale Bernhart (USA)
Patrice Brunet (CAN)
Stuart Corbishley (AUS)
Johan Druwe (BEL)
Jan Sterk (RSA)
Suzanne Tang (MAS)
Elected members of the Medical & Anti-Doping Committee
Marie-Claude Gregoire (CAN)
Doug Hiller (USA)
Yasser Hosny (EGY)
Ryoji Kasanami (JPN)
Claude Marble (FRA)
Sergio Migliorini (ITA)
Angela Pedro (POR)
Elected members of the Multisport Committee
Alicia Garcia (ESP)
Jianqiu Qin (CHN)
Melody Tan (MAS)
Brian Hinton (AUS)
Tim Yount (USA)
Diane Henderson (TTO)
Ahmed Allouch (TUN)
Elected members of the National Coaches Committee
Claudia Beristain (MEX)
Philippe Fattori (FRA)
Rodrigo Milazzo (BRA)
Kate Murray (RSA)
Stephen Sheldrake (NZL)
Rick Velati (GBR)
Hideki Yamame (JPN)
Elected members of the Paratriathlon Committee
Martin Breedijk (NED)
Beryl Campbell (RSA)
Grant Darby (CAN)
Lofti Labaied (TUN)
Neil Andrew MacLeod (ITA)
Christine Palmquist (USA)
Masamitsu Tomikawa (JPN)
Elected members of the Technical Committee
Jaime Cadaval (MEX)
Jorge García (ESP)
Lyndell Murray (AUS)
Ricardo Neves (BRA)
Kiriyo Suzuki (JPN)
Bela Varga (HUN)
Howard Vine (GBR)
Elected members of the Women’s Committee
Michelle Cooper (AUS)
Anne-Charlotte Dupont (FRA)
Bernard Hanratty (IRL)
Josefa Martinez (CHI)
Tomoko Wada (JPN)
Eva Werthmann (GER)
Elected members of the World Triathlon Tribunal
Monique Houten (BEL)
Barry Lipp (AUS)
David Markham (CAN)
Angelo Rigopoulos (ITA)
Triathlon’s mid-season report card: Tim Don on who’s raising the bar this triathlon race season
