The legendary Ironman triathlon comes to Russia

by time news

In July 2020, the Ironman 70.3 Russia competition will take place in St. Petersburg, according to the website of the city administration. Until now, there have been no competitions under the auspices of the Ironman in Russia.

The Ironman Triathlon is considered one of the most challenging one-day competitions in the world. Hosted by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). Each race consists of three non-stop stages: a 3.86 km swim, a 180.25 km highway bike ride, and a 42.195 km marathon.

Ironman 70.3 Series races include competitions at halved distances: a 1.9 km swim, a 90 km bike race and a 21.1 km race.

In St. Petersburg, the swim is planned to be organized on the Rowing Canal on Krestovsky Island. Further, the bicycle route is planned to be laid through the neighboring Elagin Island, Primorskoye Highway and the Ring Road towards Kronstadt and back, the administration said. The route and date are being discussed, says a person close to the administration. But the race will take place after July 15 at the end of the European Football Championship 2020. St. Petersburg will host four games – three in the group stage and a 1/8 final match.

The general license for the right to conduct Ironman 70.3 races in the CIS countries, according to experts in the field of triathlon interviewed by Vedomosti, is owned by a large construction holding from Kazakhstan – BI Group. This company last year received the rights to the Ironman 70.3 Astana in Kazakhstan and has already held two races.

Sergei Bodrov was named the general director of the company – the organizer of the triathlon in the message of the administration of St. Petersburg. He also oversees the organization of the Ironman 70.3 Astana race, Forbes Kazakhstan wrote. The race in St. Petersburg is organized by the Iron Man company, a representative of the city administration told Vedomosti. According to SPARK, this company was registered in April this year in Moscow.

The Iron Man company is not associated with the BI Group and received a seven-year license to run the race in Russia, Bodrov told Vedomosti. Who will provide funds for the organization of the competition and their size Bodrov refused to say.

The WTC sells the Ironman license for about $ 300,000 per competition.

Funding for the competition will come from extra-budgetary sources, says the interlocutor of “Vedomosti” in the administration of St. Petersburg, the city will be responsible for the preparation of the route, safety, medical support, information and advertising support. The race can be visited by about 10,000 guests from 60 countries of the world, according to the statement of the administration of St. Petersburg.

Investments in the organization of a triathlon, taking into account the cost of licenses, will cost its organizers in the amount of $ 500,000 to $ 1 million with the number of participants 1000-1500, says Maxim Zhurilo, one of the founders of the I Love Supersport sports project and co-founder of Leader’s Triathlon. This company runs the Ironstar race, which is the Russian counterpart of the Ironman. The registration fee, he said, can cost the participants $ 250-300. It is expensive to organize races, they often run at a loss, this is a kind of patronage, adds triathlete Viktor Zhidkov, CEO of VestaBank.

But he and Zhurilo agree: interest in triathlon and competitions has been actively developing in Russia for the past few years. In total, there are now about 16,000 athletes in the country who, in principle, have ever participated in triathlon competitions, and 6,000 regularly participate in races, says Zhidkov. There is no need to expect a sharp increase in triathlon fans in the near future, since due to the devaluation of the ruble, foreign equipment is quite expensive, says Zhurilo. Equipment (bicycle, helmet, goggles, cycling uniforms, shoes, wetsuit, running clothes, etc.) costs about $ 15,000.

A sporting event of this level could attract a significant number of tourists to Russia, says a Rostourism spokesman, along with other St. Petersburg initiatives, including the launch of an e-visa regime, this competition will make the city popular with tourists from all over the world.

Ironman representatives did not respond to Vedomosti’s request.

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