Prior to the ITU offices closing for the remainder of 2014 on December 19, ITU would like to share some important final decisions ahead of the New Year. Please note that all ITU offices will re-open on January 7, 2015.

2015 Competition Rules

ITU recently published the 2015 ITU Competition Rules, which will take effect on January 16, 2015. While several changes were made, ITU would like to direct your attention to some important modifications.

–  Drafting penalties will now be identified and issued with a blue card for both elite and age group competition

–  There will no longer be a limitation on sponsor logos on helmets

–  Draft-legal age group rules will be introduced, namely less bike specification for age groupers than elites and drafting between opposite genders will not be permitted.

–  Elite drafting zones will be set at 12m, while age group drafting zones will be 10m

–  The S3 Winter Triathlon format has been approved (snowshoeing – skating – cross country skiing)

–  The Interval Start System will be used for the paratriathlon PT5 sport class

–  The classification process will determine the allowance of using up to one handler for each paratriathlete in the PT2, PT3 and PT4 competitions

–  The paratriathlon quota distribution for ITU events among the different sport classes has changed. Please refer to Appendix E12, page 111.

–  Scoring for the various levels of paratriathlon events has also been modified and ITU will recalculate rankings with the new figures for all events from January 2014.

For the 2015 ITU Competition Rules, click here.

For the 2015 Paratriathlon Classification Rules and Regulations, click here.

Paralympic Qualification List
The ITU Paralympic Qualification List has also been determined and posted here. Qualification will begin July 1, 2015 and will continue until June 30, 2016.

Barry Siff elected to ITU Executive Board

USA Triathlon’s Board of Directors President Barry Siff was elected to serve as a pro tem elected ITU Board Member. Siff will fill the position until the ITU 2015 Congress when all voting member National Federations will have the opportunity to submit a candidate for election. All 15 Executive Board seats will be up for re-election at Congress in 2016, with the four-year term lengths in line with the summer Olympic quadrennial.

New Anti-Doping Rules implemented
New Anti-Doping Rules, which coincide with the WADA Code, which will go into effect 1 January, 2015. Most notably amongst those are the following:

– Longer bans: Deliberate doping is now punished with a four-year ban

– Stringent approach: Unintentional doping will be punished in many more cases with a two-year ban or more

– Whereabouts: The time frame for three filing failures and/or missed tests is reduced to 12 months, from 18 months

Disciplinary Panel

Following recommendations from its Constitution Committee, the Executive Board voted to introduce a new disciplinary panel that will be formed independently of ITU. The disciplinary panel will be responsible for reviewing various sanctions and violations.

Approved Positions

ITU would like to congratulate Mrs. Marguerite Christophers on the approval of her position as ITU Head of Classification. In 2015, ITU will also seek a Deputy Head of Classification of ITU. ITU would also like to congratulate Dr. Sergio Migliorini and Dr. Doug Hiller for their appointments as medical delegated for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, respectively.

Technical Officials
ITU would also like to congratulate the Japanese Triathlon Union and the Austrian Triathlon Federation on their Technical Officials education programs receiving ITU accreditation. These two federations will join seven other federations that already make up the ITU-ATOEP program. More information can be found here.