The Local Organising Committee of the 2023 World Triathlon Multisports Championships Ibiza has received the Gold Certificate – the highest award possible – for its measures to ensure the sustainability of the 10-day event.
The LOC is aiming to hold a zero-waste event, with no single-use plastic bottles among the central practices in keeping with the island’s commitment to fight against its use. The Championships’ carbon footprint will be measured to learn which areas of its sustainability may be improved upon in future and to share best practice with subsequent editions here and around the world.
“My congratulations to the Ibiza LOC for this wonderful achievement and important legacy for our sport,” said World Triathlon President Marisol Casado. “When World Triathlon started this project, we were encouraging organisations to implement sustainable measures across all areas of the events. The efforts made by the Ibiza LOC have overachieved our goals.”
“It is a great pleasure to see how the organising team has been busy weaving sustainability into all areas of delivery and, whilst a number of them will be unseen by participants and spectators, there are many that everyone will notice and be able to contribute towards. We are sure that everyone will be able to notice a shade of green throughout the blue carpet at this landmark event.”
Working with local producers as much as possible, using organic and/or fair trade products and an overarching awareness campaign for all athletes and attendees will further underline Ibiza’s claim to the title of the most sustainable World Triathlon Multisport Championships ever.
A beach-clean event will be held on Thursday 4 May, with all encouraged to play their part in keeping the White Isle’s famous sands free of litter and ensuring that the championships and its participants leave the island with the least possible impact to its natural environment.
José Hidalgo, president of the Spanish Triathlon Federation, added; “Since its inception, one of the most important pillars on which the Ibiza Multisport World Championship was based was the sustainability, respect and preservation of Ibiza’s natural and marine environments. For all this, I am very happy that World Triathlon has assessed all the strategies and measures that we are going to implement and has decided to grant them the gold certification, which is the highest certification granted by the international federation and under some very exacting standards.”
This will also be the first Multisport World Championships at which the Podium virtual race capsules will replace finisher medals for Age Group athletes. As World Triathlon continues its own commitments to cutting its carbon footprint, the digital record will give the athletes competing in Ibiza their own unique capsule with personalised, shareable data from their race.
For his part, the president of the Consell d’Eivissa, Vicent Marí, celebrated the recognition of an event that will serve “to value our ability to organise sporting events of global projection” but, at the same time, “to highlight our natural heritage”. In this sense, the president applauded “the awareness shown by the Organising Committee, involved from the first minute in achieving a zero-impact event for our environment that, at the same time, will show the athletes an idyllic place to practice their favorite sport”.
For more information on World Triathlon’s commitment to a sustainable sport, click here.
