10 AUSTRALIANS SHORTLISTED FOR ITU HALL OF FAME

Triathlon Australia, July 30, 2014: Australia has dominated the list of nominees for the first-ever International Triathlon Union Hall of Fame induction to be announced in Edmonton next month.

Ten Australians – five men and five women are among 22 athletes shortlisted alongside three Longtime Achievement Award nominees.

Australian athletes make up a staggering 45 percent of the nominations reads like a who’s who of the sport that had its first ITU World Championship in 1989 and debuted at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

They are: Women – Emma Carney, Jackie Gallagher, Loretta Harrop, Michellie Jones and Emma Snowsill. Men – Brad Bevan, Chris McCormack, Peter Robertson, Miles Stewart and Greg Welch.

The top ten are all responsible for putting triathlon on the map in Australia and around the world – pioneering the sport from its infancy under the ITU banner to where it stands today as one of the most popular sports in the world.

From the days of Emma Carney, Jackie Gallagher and Loretta Harrop in the 1990s who were the fiercest of rivals on to Michelle Jones and Emma Snowsill there has been two significant decades of the Aussies domination in the women’s events and some cross over along the way with Harrop, Jones and Snowsill.

That domination has been equally as impressive on the men’s side with Welsh, Bevan, Stewart and McCormack conquering the world before handing the baton on to Robertson.

Between the ten of them they have won a remarkable 15 ITU World Championships and amassed a total of 35 ITU World Championship medals and countless World Cup wins, with the girls chiming in with a gold and two silvers from the Olympic Games in 2000, 2004 and 2008. Fittingly the first nine inaugurations will be announced at the ITU World

Championships in Edmonton (August 25-September 1).

The nominations are divided into elite female and male athlete accomplishments, as well as lifetime achievements.

ITU President and IOC Member Marisol Casado said: "The sport of triathlon has been blessed with athletes pushing the limits of sport since the very first World Championships in Avignon 25 years ago and we look forward to honouring and celebrating their  accomplishments, alongside those that have built the sport into what it has become today."

Here is a full list of the nominations.

Elite Women Erin Baker, NZL Emma Carney, AUS Vanessa Fernandez, Jackie Gallagher, AUS Loretta Harrop, AUS Siri Lindley, USA Barb Lindquist, USA Michellie Jones, AUS Carol Montgomery, CAN Karen Smyers, USA Greg Welch, AUS Emma Snowsill, AUS

Elite Men Mark Allen, USA Rob Barel, NED POR Brad Beven, AUS Hamish Carter, NZL Simon Lessing, GBR Chris McCormack, AUS Peter Robertson, AUS Spencer Smith, GBR Miles Stewart, AUS Greg Welch, AUS Simon Whitfield, CAN

Lifetime Achiever  Gunnar Ericsson, SWE Chiharu Igaya, JPN Les McDonald, CAN

NOMINATION PROCESS

Nominees in the men's and women's category were selected based on the criteria that each has a championship title in one or more ITU World Championships, Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, World Cup Series, and/or ITU World Rankings.

Lifetime Achievement Nominees were selected based on their extraordinary, long- term contributions off the field of play or through an exceptional contribution to ITU and the sport of triathlon.

The induction ceremony will take place during the 2014 Edmonton World Triathlon Grand Final closing ceremonies banquet with more than 4,000 athletes and dignitaries in attendance.

In addition to the Hall of Fame, ITU will celebrate its 25th year as an international federation by publishing a commemorative 25 year anniversary book and will hold its final Executive Board of the year meeting in Avignon, France, where ITU's first Congress was held in 1989.

Issued on behalf of Triathlon Australia by
Ian Hanson| Media Manager Triathlon Australia
Media Manager Australian Commonwealth Games Team, Glasgow, 2014