Updated: Mont-Tremblant “reaffirms its trust” in Dominique Piché

The story we reported last night regarding Dominique Piché’s resignation took an interesting turn this afternoon with the announcement that the Événements sportifs Mont-Tremblant, a non-profit organization that manages the Ironman events in Mont-Tremblant, doesn’t appear to be accepting Dominique Piché’s resignation.

“Les événements sportifs Mont-Tremblant (ESMT) reaffirms its trust in Dominique Piché as executive producer of the Ironman race series held at Mont-Tremblant despite the recent announcement of his resignation as race director and producer for the Ironman Group,” the group said in a release distributed this afternoon.

“Dominique has shown great skill at organizing a race series that has earned worldwide acclaim. He eagerly shares his passion, thoroughness and savoir-faire and the event has turned into the huge success it is today, mobilizing our entire extended community. As a result, he will remain executive producer of the Ironman 5i50/Sprint, Ironman 70.3 and Ironman Mont-Tremblant,” stated ESMT board chairman Patrice Malo.

The group cites the quality and success of the events over the last eight years as its reasoning for the decision, and notes that the current contract between itself and the Ironman Group runs through 2021.

Piché’s resignation was accepted by the Ironman Group yesterday – he cited “unfortunate events” from last weekend’s Rock and Roll Montreal Marathon – Piché was also the race director of that event, which is also owned by Ironman – as his reason for resigning.

“The unfortunate events during the marathon of this past weekend, for which I publicly assumed full responsibility, as was proper in such circumstances, have led me to make this difficult decision,” Piché wrote in his resignation letter. “This reflects my desire to be accountable, a quality I hold in high esteem.”

The race began 50 minutes late due to issues with security staffing and 24-year-old Patrick Neely died while competing in the half-marathon.

In an emailed response to questions, we learned from ESMT that Piché had agreed to continue on as the executive producer of the Ironman races in Mont-Tremblant.

“ESMT confirmed Dominique Piché as executive producer of the Ironman race series held at Mont-Tremblant, despite the recent announcement of his resignation as race director and producer for the IRONMAN Group, and yes – Dominique agreed to continue,” Isabelle Vallée, the Manager, Public Relations & Communications for the Tremblant Resort Association wrote.

The executive producer position appears to be different to that of the race director, though.

“ESMT employs Dominique Piché as the Executive Producer of the Ironman race series held at Mont-Tremblant, as the person responsible for proper site preparation, which is a different role from what he resignated from, as race director and producer for the Ironman Group,” Vallée wrote.