African Triathlon Union Visits Maputo

The ATU President, Liesbeth Stoltz, and the Manager of ITU Technical Operations, Thanos Nikopolos, visited Maputo, Mozambique recently to discuss the venue and participation of Triathlon in the 2011 African Games. The group also included the Deputy of the Maputo Organising Committee, Penalva Cezar from Mozambique, as well as other local interest groups from Maputo.

Data gathered from the visit formed part of the practical exercise of the Level 2 Technical Officials course a week later in Durban, South Africa. The core group of Technical Officials for the 2011 will come from this course.

Twenty-two very eager and motivated technical officials from seven African countries attended the ITU Level 2 Technical Officials course in Durban. This course was the first ever course presented by the ITU on their new curriculum for Level 2 Technical Officials and was run by Nikopolous.

At the end of the course the officials applied their new knowledge to design two possible routes for the 2011 African Games in Maputo, Mozambique. With Google earth, maps and photographs, all elements for a perfect venue were investigated. On Saturday and Sunday the Technical Officials worked as full time as officials for the LOC hosting the 2010 African Triathlon Championships in the Point area of Durban, South Africa.