Triathlon front and centre at the 2013 Australian Olympic Youth Festival

Posted in Other News

Triathlon, November 27, 2012: Today, November 27 marks the 50-day countdown to the 2013 Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF), a chance to see Australia’s future Olympians compete in an international multi-sport event and triathlon will again feature prominently.

The AYOF, to be held from January 16-20, is the sixth edition of the prestigious event, with the first taking place in 2001 as a legacy of the Sydney Olympics.

Triathlon, one of the original sports at the AYOF in 2001 will again include ITU Juniors, with racing set down for Penrith on Friday and Saturday, January 18 and 19, 2013.

To be considered for selection for the 2013 AYOF, Australian triathletes must be 16-19 years of age with age determined on 31 December 2013 (Athletes must be born in the years 1994, 1995, 1996 or 1997 only). Athletes must also be endorsed as ITU Juniors by their respective State associations and Triathlon Australia.

An eight-strong Australian team will be announced after Triathlon Australia’s Super Sprint Race weekend/the first round of the 2013 Scody Australian Junior Triathlon Series at Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast (December 14-16).

The top three (3) athletes overall will be automatically selected for the 2013 AYOF and the fourth and final spots will be at the discretion of TA Elite Selection Committee (TAESC).

The 2001 AYOF saw the emergence of 2008 Olympic champion Emma Snowsill who won the women’s triathlon while 2012 London Olympic bronze medallist and 2012 ITU World Champion, Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) won the AYOF gold medal in 2009.

The Australian Olympic Committee announced today that more than 150 young Australian athletes had graduated from the AYOF to compete at an Olympic Games.

At the London 2012 Olympics, 106 athletes - over one quarter of the Australian Team - were alumni of the AYOF. Between them they won 19 medals – three gold, eight silver and eight bronze.

Anna Meares, Sally Pearson and Cate Campbell – the three gold medallists – were stand-out achievers at their respective Youth Festivals and were earmarked to achieve greatness at an Olympic level. They are joined by other big names such as Snowsill, Eamon Sullivan, Jessica Fox and Matthew Mitcham.

Fox, who won silver in the canoe slalom in London, is Australia’s first athlete to compete and win medals at an AYOF, Youth Olympic Games and Olympic Games – and all in the space of three years.

“It was pretty exciting,” 18-year-old Fox said of her 2009 AYOF experience. “It was good fun. There was an opening ceremony, we stayed in a village, there was the excitement of the race and the nerves. It definitely prepared us well.

“For me, I had an idea of what was going to happen at the Youth Olympic Games. The AYOF set us up well for that.”
As Fox and the many other successful Olympians have proven, the AYOF is a pathway to the Olympic Games for aspiring athletes and to provide other young athletes with a rare Olympic experience.

The AYOF is a unique experience that provides young athletes from all over the world the opportunity to compete in Olympic venues, under Olympic conditions and to learn the Olympic values of fair play, sportsmanship, respect for teammates and opponents, friendship, national pride, honesty and humility.

“The AYOF prepares and nurtures athletes who are bound for the elite ranks,” AOC President John Coates said.

“At the start of the new year, we will once again have the chance to see hundreds of athletes competing at the highest level in their sports and among them will no doubt be the stars of the Rio 2016 Games and beyond. It is a very exciting prospect and I encourage everyone to watch as the five days of elite competition take place in our own backyard.”

Follow the AYOF here:
W:        ayof2013.olympics.com.au
T:         twitter.com/ayof2013
F:         facebook.com/australianolympicteam
Y:         youtube.com/AUSOlympicTeam

Notes about the 2013 Australian Youth Olympic Festival:
The AYOF will be held in Sydney from 16 – 20 January, 2013
There will be 17 sports
1700 athletes will compete, coming from 30 nations

Issued on behalf of Triathlon Australia.