Triathlon-I've nothing to hide, says President Arimany after triathlon's tumultuous year

To describe World Triathlon President Antonio Arimany's first year in office as bumpy would be like calling the Hawaii Ironman a gentle Sunday stroll, but the Spaniard heads into what is likely to be a lively annual Congress in ebullient mood. In July an external report described the swim-bike-run sport as widely fractured and was anything but complimentary about its governance, pointing to missed opportunities for development and declining participation.

To describe World Triathlon President Antonio Arimany's first year in office as bumpy would be like calling the Hawaii Ironman a gentle Sunday stroll, but the Spaniard heads into what is likely to be a lively annual Congress in ebullient mood.

In July an external report described the swim-bike-run sport as widely fractured and was anything but complimentary about its governance, pointing to missed opportunities for development and declining participation. Weeks later the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) partially upheld a World Triathlon Tribunal finding that there had been breaches of the sport's anti-corruption policy in the lead-up to Arimany's 2024 election, when a pre-determined "favourites list" had influenced its outcome, though CAS reduced the sanction handed to Executive Board member Liber Garcia.

The fallout from both episodes is likely to get a good airing at the Congress in Australia on Saturday, held alongside the World Championships finale, but Arimany said he welcomed any and all debate. "I have nothing to hide," he told Reuters in an interview. "There has been some noise over the last 12 months but everything can be discussed and this is the place to do it.

"We had a transparent and democratic election and have a certificate from the entity that clearly states that it was done according to the rules without any problem. Everyone was able to vote freely, transparently and without any kind of pressure or whatever. "I'm sure that the national federations are focused on what we need to do and I don't see any challenge coming."

CANADA'S MCCRORY WANTS LEADERSHIP CHANGE President of Triathlon Canada, Peter McCrory, who is calling for the leadership to be changed, has since apologised after voting for candidates suggested by Garcia.

"There was collaboration and pressure was put on people. There were threats to withhold funding," McCrory told Reuters. "Mr Garcia said to me that unless I supported the group then they wouldn't support Canada's candidates. So Antonio is right when he says there was free choice, but he is being conservative with the truth."

CAS concluded that Garcia's WhatsApp messages, where he offered Australian Michelle Cooper re-election support on the Executive Board in exchange for her dropping out of the presidential race, violated World Triathlon's code of conduct and ethics rules. However, the CAS panel also found the one-year suspension levied on the Uruguayan by World Triathlon to be excessive and overturned it, reducing his penalty to a warning.

Garcia said at the time: "This warning is based on the ambiguity and lack of clarity in the election regulations. "The CAS ruling entirely dismisses any allegations of corruption or election manipulation, which fully justifies the significant reduction of the original one-year suspension to a simple warning."

McCrory, who has called the culture of the sport's leadership "mafia-like", added: "They are simply not complying with the rules and the president of World Triathlon and the president of the Americas Confederation (Garcia) are willing to turn a blind eye and say 'the rules don't really matter because we're at liberty to do whatever we want'. "I've been in meetings with Mr Garcia where he didn't accept the findings of the tribunal and Antonio believes there's nothing to see, so I don't see any willingness to change.

"I think we are going to have much of the same for a very long time and it's not going to end well for the world of triathlon, unfortunately." ARIMANY AIMING TO BRING THE SPORT TOGETHER

Arimany has plenty of other things to worry about but said he was already well into his plans to bring the diverse arms of the sport together. World Triathlon runs the Olympic distance World Championships but the rapid rise of other formats, including the sprint distance Super-Tri and longer distance T100, have further splintered what has always been something of a two-tier sport with Ironman long ploughing its own furrow.

"The Deloitte report has brought out some clear and objective targets for the sport," Arimany said. "We realise that it is very fragmented and with a lot of private organisers involved but we are trying to be sure that World Triathlon becomes the real governing body of this sport.

"We are creating new agreements and partnerships with these organisations. We want to work together and commercialise together. We are not competing with them - we are a not-for-profit organisation that wants to grow and develop the sport. "We are in good discussions with the Professional Triathletes' Organisation and overall I'm very positive about it as it's a win-win for everyone."

Arimany also said he had been encouraged by an rise in participation, particularly in new markets, saying there were now 70 events in China, which he said was "growing amazingly." Like just about every sport, though, he recognises that a return to popularity in the United States is essential.

Triathlon's shop window is the Olympic Games and in 2028 it will return to California, where it first emerged 50 years ago. "LA is going to represent an important opportunity for the growth of the sport for everyone," Arimany said. "Clearly LA provides a unique opportunity to keep growing the sport."

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