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Penticton wins bid for ITU Triathlon World Championships festival

March 22, 2016
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Penticton, BC has won the bid to host the first ever ITU Multisport World Championships Festival. The event, found through the hashtag #Penticton2017 on social media, will run for 10 days in August 2017 and will see 5,000 athletes compete in four separate world championship races — duathlon, aquathlon, cross triathlon and the highly anticipated long course triathlon.

“There is no better place than Penticton for a multisport championship on this scale,” said Michael Brown, Executive Director, Penticton 2017. “The Okanagan has been hosting world-class triathlons for more than 30 years, and this event will cement the region’s reputation as a premier global destination for training and racing.”

“In Penticton we pride ourselves with not only stunning vistas of lakes, mountains, and vineyards throughout a legendary race course; but a very friendly supportive community and volunteer army of thousands,” said Andrew Jakubeit, Penticton Mayor. “Hosting the Canadian national championships this year and 2017 World Multi sport championships will bring economic activity to our community, which is a big part of our sports tourism strategy and a chance to showcase our region as a premier destination to invest, relax, train and play.”

Penticton 2017 is the first time ever that the ITU has decided to combine all four events’ world championship races for a single, 10-day festival. Previously, each was hosted in a different city on a different date. The region will welcome thousands of athletes and spectators as well as international media to the event. Brown’s team is working on creating events that can also engage the local community, including the Penticton Volunteer Army.

“Penticton is special because of the long history of triathlon with the community. The people and the tradition of volunteerism in and support of sport,” says Les Pereira, President of Triathlon Canada. “We are very proud to be the first country to host this event. The sport of triathlon has its roots deeply entrenched in North America and much of it’s soul is in Canada.”

Michael Brown is also the owner and organizer of the annual Challenge Penticton. He says that this year’s race will service as a test event for Penticton 2017.

Regular TMC contributor and one of Canada’s top long distance triathletes — Jeff Symonds — wrote a full guide to racing Penticton for anyone interested in putting this exciting Canadian event on their race agenda next year.