Antonio Fernández Arimany is the president of World Triathlon. He is the only Spaniard who leads an International Federation. He is also vice president of the TAS. He states that his roadmap includes his intention to end the fragmentation in the organization of triathlon events in a sport, which needs to unify rights to exploit sponsorships, improve alliances and access cutting-edge innovation.
Ask: The city of Madrid is fashionable in the organization of sporting events. Will you have triathlon soon?
Answer: I would love for Madrid to be able to recover the top-level event it had many years ago. It has exceptional conditions, with the Casa de Campo and the Royal Palace in front. There are no circuits in the world like this anywhere, in the center of the city, and with few traffic interruptions. F1 is very good, but we would show the world the center of Madrid. We depend on the city council and the Community. We are very happy, in any case, because for the first time in history next year we will have ten events in the world series. It’s the first time in history.
P: Triathlon needs to evolve. Where to?
R: We have to change because the world of sports does not stop. If you don’t evolve, you stay behind. We are in the process of making a very important change. We have realized that to market this sport worldwide we were very segregated, there was the Ironman, there was the Challenge, the PTO… there is us. When you approach any sponsor, any investor, they tell you why I am going to invest in you and not this other guy. We are trying to act as glue to unite with these organizations and say we have to market together, otherwise we all lose here. If there are so many private organizers, because there is business here.
P: Do you have outside help?
R: We commissioned a study from Deloitte. We were not interested in our opinion. We wanted an external view. They criticize us, of course. And they tell us: you have to change. And we face that change. I went to speak in London with experts and major investors in the sector, including the CVC fund, which has entered LaLiga, F1, MotoGP, the Premier League, rugby… I understand Real Madrid and Florentino not entering, but in the rest of the sports they help manage. We have to get to work and unite. We are making a great effort in China, where we are beginning to have better results. We are strengthening in the Middle East, taking advantage of the wave of investment, we are starting to have events there. And in South America, Paraguay and Chile are pulling strongly.
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P: Are you continuing to lead the organization chaired by Marisol Casado?
R: Well, partly yes. Logically, I have worked with Marisol for a long time, we have done many things, but it is also true that we need to evolve, change, adapt to new times and face a new way of marketing our sport. Many sports will be left behind if they do not evolve. It already happened to us when we were born and the Ironman passed us by.
P: Are you receptive within the organization?
R: What I have is a lot of support, a lot of support in many federations. Thanks to that I can face these changes. If you do not have very broad support, this challenge is impossible to change. It must be recognized that José Hidalgo has done a lot for triathlon and is a great support.
P: That triathlon is the first sport to put the first medal at stake at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is a great incentive…
R: The women’s triathlon will be the first medal to come out. Like in Sydney. It has a larger audience than the others. It is an action that has cost a lot of work with the Organizing Committee. We are interested in getting up early because otherwise you will lose the audience in China.
With information from EFE
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