Cape Town will host the first ever African ITU World Triathlon Series, providing an economic boost to the city and reaffirming its status as the events capital of Africa.
Cape Town is gearing up to welcome some of the world’s top endurance athletes to the Mother City for Africa’s first-ever ITU World Triathlon Series (WTS) being held this weekend on 26 and 27 April 2014.
The Cape Town leg of the race will serve as the second stop on the eight-city tour which started in Auckland, New Zealand earlier this month. Cape Town was chosen as one of only two cities to debut on the WTS calendar in 2014, with Chicago also hosting the event for the first time. Other host cities include Yokohama, London, Hamburg, Stockholm and Edmonton.
The heart of the event will be the Race Village at the V&A Waterfront’s Look Out venue, which will feature a lifestyle exhibition and grandstands for the public with a bird’s eye view of the finish line.
‘The City calls on Capetonians to participate and to support the event. Hosting the triathlon series is in line with our vision to become the events capital of Africa. The influx of the best professional triathletes in the world plus the mass participation aspect of the event will be another economic boost for Cape Town. We encourage the athletes, their families and supporters to enjoy as much of our beautiful city as possible while they are here,’ said the City’s Acting Mayoral Committee Member for Tourism, Events and Marketing, Alderman Ian Neilson.
Race organisers have proposed a two-lap 1 500 m swim within the V&A Waterfront; followed by a scenic eight-lap 40 km bike ride; and a four-lap 10 km run with scenic ocean views for the triathletes.
The weekend of events will also include races for mass participation.
Home-grown talent, Richard Murray, South Africa’s number one triathlete and ranked 5th in the world by ITU, will be giving his competitors a run for their money. Murray, a 25 year-old from Durbanville has won numerous South African and international competitions. He competed at the 2012 London Olympics and will represent South Africa at the Commonwealth Games later this year.
‘The City of Cape Town is a proud supporter of the World Triathlon Series. We are thrilled that the organiser chose Cape Town, voted South Africa’s “Fittest City” by Discovery Vitality in 2013, alongside other world-class cities to host the event. We are also pleased that our local triathlon champion, Richard Murray, will get a chance to compete in front of a home crowd for the first time.
