Hawaii, plus a Hawaii...
Publié : 03 mars 2006, 01:08
Alors, ca c'est du scoop....et bien il semblerait que Hawaii a Hawaii (comprenez, les championnats du monde distance IM a Hawaii) s'arrete apres l'edition 2006 ou 2007...certaines villes en lice, dont une en Floride...
La fin laisse penser que la WTC veut rester a Hawaii...neanmoins, ils sont coutumiers du 'oui oui ca reste' et en fait ca change...
Ironman World Championship to move from Hawaii?
March 2, 2006
Valyermo, California (Slowtwitch News Service™)
Persistent rumors that the World Triathlon Corporation may move its World Ironman Championship out of Kona have, as it turns out, some basis in fact. WTC’s head of public relations, Blaire LaHaye, did acknowledge that other cities have been dangling tempting offers to the Tarpon Springs, Florida, firm, hoping to lure triathlon’s crown jewel.
"Sometimes we do wonder," admitted Blaire LaHaye, spokesperson for WTC, "if Kona loves the race as much as it loves Kona." WTC questions Kona’s commitment to keeping Ironman’s World Championship in Kona, and whether the relationship is symmetrical. LaHaye did not deny that a conflict with a visiting cruise ship, forcing a change in the already-published race date for the 2006 Ironman, annoyed WTC.
The honorable Harry Kim, not just mayor of the 40,000-person hamlet of Kailua-Kona, but of the entire Big Island and its 170,000 inhabitants, wants to make sure the owners of the Ironman World Championship understand Kona’s loyalty and affection for the Ironman. Mayor Kim was asked about the race date change and other issues gnawing at WTC. "Is it a case of people talking past each other?" Kim was asked. "Or a miscommunication? Or has the city outgrown the race?"
"All of the above except the last," was the Mayor’s reply.
"I've been mayor for the past 5 years," Mayor Kim continued. "I've attended three out of the five [Ironman events]. My daughter-in-law completed it. I have never, ever heard any complaints from the community as mayor, as father-in-law, or in any capacity...
"...except in the area of traffic concerns," the mayor continued. "We have to be sure the bicyclists are safe. And motorists are aware. But this is customary in any event of this type.
"As to the postponement of the event for a week, this was just total miscommunication. I could not believe that something so important as this, for the Island, for the community, for the corporation, would come to this.
As to the postponement, this was "...strictly a relationship between WTC and the state [The Department of Land and National Resources manages the harbor]. I heard of it after it was resolved. But I did wonder, wouldn't it have been easier to postpone the ship?"
While it is not known where the race might end up, it is known where the race will not be domiciled. "The race will not be in Clearwater [Florida]," stated LaHaye. "We have a championship there [the 70.3], and the Ironman isn’t it."
Nor will the race be anywhere else in Florida, nor will it be a rotating championship. Were the race to be moved, it would be situated in a new, more or less permanent, locale.
While the moving of the event would cause certain disruption in the triathlon community, WTC’s consideration of a venue change (in 2007 at the earliest) would not be entirely negative. "We would look for a more challenging bike course," said LaHaye, referring to the problems the Island’s competitors have always faced because of the Ironman World Championship’s flat course and parity of field. A course that offered more topographical variety would do more than a hundred race officials to break up and spread out the field.
All this aside, LaHaye stressed that WTC’s clear intention is for the race to stay in Kona. "We love Kona, we respect this event’s tradition, and our choice is for the race to stay right where it is," said LaHaye.
The Big Island’s mayor concurs. "The county has supported it, the community supported it, and we want it. Not one email, phone call, not any member of this island, the chamber, not anyone has ever asked in the five years I've been here, 'Do we need this race?' How can I be any more clear than that?"
La fin laisse penser que la WTC veut rester a Hawaii...neanmoins, ils sont coutumiers du 'oui oui ca reste' et en fait ca change...
Ironman World Championship to move from Hawaii?
March 2, 2006
Valyermo, California (Slowtwitch News Service™)
Persistent rumors that the World Triathlon Corporation may move its World Ironman Championship out of Kona have, as it turns out, some basis in fact. WTC’s head of public relations, Blaire LaHaye, did acknowledge that other cities have been dangling tempting offers to the Tarpon Springs, Florida, firm, hoping to lure triathlon’s crown jewel.
"Sometimes we do wonder," admitted Blaire LaHaye, spokesperson for WTC, "if Kona loves the race as much as it loves Kona." WTC questions Kona’s commitment to keeping Ironman’s World Championship in Kona, and whether the relationship is symmetrical. LaHaye did not deny that a conflict with a visiting cruise ship, forcing a change in the already-published race date for the 2006 Ironman, annoyed WTC.
The honorable Harry Kim, not just mayor of the 40,000-person hamlet of Kailua-Kona, but of the entire Big Island and its 170,000 inhabitants, wants to make sure the owners of the Ironman World Championship understand Kona’s loyalty and affection for the Ironman. Mayor Kim was asked about the race date change and other issues gnawing at WTC. "Is it a case of people talking past each other?" Kim was asked. "Or a miscommunication? Or has the city outgrown the race?"
"All of the above except the last," was the Mayor’s reply.
"I've been mayor for the past 5 years," Mayor Kim continued. "I've attended three out of the five [Ironman events]. My daughter-in-law completed it. I have never, ever heard any complaints from the community as mayor, as father-in-law, or in any capacity...
"...except in the area of traffic concerns," the mayor continued. "We have to be sure the bicyclists are safe. And motorists are aware. But this is customary in any event of this type.
"As to the postponement of the event for a week, this was just total miscommunication. I could not believe that something so important as this, for the Island, for the community, for the corporation, would come to this.
As to the postponement, this was "...strictly a relationship between WTC and the state [The Department of Land and National Resources manages the harbor]. I heard of it after it was resolved. But I did wonder, wouldn't it have been easier to postpone the ship?"
While it is not known where the race might end up, it is known where the race will not be domiciled. "The race will not be in Clearwater [Florida]," stated LaHaye. "We have a championship there [the 70.3], and the Ironman isn’t it."
Nor will the race be anywhere else in Florida, nor will it be a rotating championship. Were the race to be moved, it would be situated in a new, more or less permanent, locale.
While the moving of the event would cause certain disruption in the triathlon community, WTC’s consideration of a venue change (in 2007 at the earliest) would not be entirely negative. "We would look for a more challenging bike course," said LaHaye, referring to the problems the Island’s competitors have always faced because of the Ironman World Championship’s flat course and parity of field. A course that offered more topographical variety would do more than a hundred race officials to break up and spread out the field.
All this aside, LaHaye stressed that WTC’s clear intention is for the race to stay in Kona. "We love Kona, we respect this event’s tradition, and our choice is for the race to stay right where it is," said LaHaye.
The Big Island’s mayor concurs. "The county has supported it, the community supported it, and we want it. Not one email, phone call, not any member of this island, the chamber, not anyone has ever asked in the five years I've been here, 'Do we need this race?' How can I be any more clear than that?"
