On April 21, the first Rural Triathlon Open was successfully held in Xishui, Hubei, and Xishui also appeared in front of the public with this competition.
Swimming in the reservoir and racing in the mountains and fields, behind such a unique competition, not only shows the vigorous development of rural sports, promotes the development of local economy, but also plants the seeds of sports in the hearts of many young people.
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Text / Yang Yumeng
Editor / Guo Yang
I've heard of the village super and the village BA, but what is the "township railway"?
At 9 o'clock in the morning, with the sound of the starting gun, the athletes jumped into the water like arrows from the string, accompanied by the cheers of the villagers, and the first rural triathlon open competition in Xishui kicked off.
The reason why it is called "village railway" is naturally an ironman triathlon in the countryside. The route of this open race revolves around the "Colorful Tourism Road" in Luyang Township, Xishui, where the swimming stage of the event is set in the Bailian River Reservoir with a wide water area, and the cycling and running stages are all villages and houses along the way. Luyang Township, Bailian River, and Triangle Mountain Tourist Area, which have unique cultural customs, have created this unique "Township Railway" event.
The event set up a total of 17 categories, including a full age group, a half age group and a half relay group, with a prize fund of up to 155,100 yuan, attracting 335 athletes from 32 provinces across the country to participate in the competition. In addition, this competition is also the first innovative triathlon event in mainland China to use the lottery mechanism to allocate quotas.
As a C-level event registered by the China Triathlon Association, the full course adopts an Olympic standard distance of 51.5 kilometers, including 1.5 kilometers of swimming, 40 kilometers of cycling, and 10 kilometers of running, which also provides a hardware foundation for Xishui to host higher-level sports events in the later stage.
According to the organizer Krypton, the site selection of the track has been screened and repeatedly inspected in several locations, and finally the Luyangxiang track has become the final choice in the core area of the track with a centralized layout of the starting and ending points and the change area that is more in line with the standards of the "Clover" track.
It is worth mentioning that since the cycling track and running track are full of villages and houses, there are also countless locals who carry small benches and snacks and drinks to enjoy this real "doorstep" race in their own courtyards. Whenever the speeding competitors passed by, they would win bursts of cheers and cheers, and many children shouted excitedly, "This uncle is riding so fast!" and "I saw this uncle in white again." 」
After fierce competition, the results of the competition were finally announced. Miao Hao won the men's 30-39 years old group with a net time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 49 seconds. Qin Zhuhua won the women's full course championship with a time of 2 hours, 54 minutes and 36 seconds.
The township railway is not only in line with the international competition system, but also not far behind in difficulty.
Miao Hao, known as the "first person in triathlon in China", told Krypton after the race, "The bicycle track has climbed nearly 700 meters, and the running stage has been climbing, which can be said to be one of the most difficult triathlon tracks I have ever run. 」
Because Miao Hao participated in the competition and successfully won the championship, this event also received higher attention.
Prior to this, Miao Hao had maintained a 15-game winning streak in domestic triathlon events, and in the international triathlon, Miao Hao won the 2022 Kona IRONMAN World Championships in the 30-34 age group and the 2023 IRONMAN European Championships in Hamburg, Germany.
After winning the championship again in Xishui, Miao Hao also achieved 16 consecutive victories in the domestic triathlon.
This time, he came to participate in the competition, not only inseparable from the enthusiastic invitation of the organizers, but also because of Miao Hao's enthusiasm for helping the development of rural sports, he said: "I hope to use triathlon to promote rural development and drive more people to understand and participate in triathlon. 」
"It's very special, it's actually a pleasure to participate in the competition in such a beautiful environment, and the audience is also very enthusiastic, especially those children, which left a very deep impression on me. 」
"Maybe these left-behind children in the countryside don't understand what triathlon is, but they can feel the atmosphere of the competition at their doorstep, which is the best enlightenment education for them. Through this competition, a seed of sports was planted in the hearts of the children, and the future growth of the Chinese triathlon team may be the more far-reaching significance of this event. 」
On the other hand, the successful holding of the Xishui Township Iron is a positive attempt and progress for the triathlon sport.
Triathlon is being seen by more people
Triathlon was born in the United States in the 70s of the last century, originally created by the San Diego Track and Field Club in the United States as an alternative to hard long-distance running training, and then gradually became popular, and then entered the Olympics at the end of the 90s, becoming the fastest sport in the history of the Olympic Games, was introduced to China in the 80s, and began to have official domestic competitions in the 90s.
Nowadays, triathlon has been divided into different types, and the common triathlon is divided into five categories according to the track distance: short distance, Olympic standard (5150 standard iron), long distance (ITU Long), half iron (Half Ironman70.3), and big iron (Ironman).
Triathlon enthusiasts need to take into account the three sports of swimming, cycling and running, and a professional bicycle is required, so enthusiasts need to invest more energy and money, so there is a certain threshold for triathlon, which is destined to not have such a wide audience as ordinary road running events such as marathons that can be participated in with a pair of running shoes.
But it is also because it is more difficult and challenging, in Europe and the United States, people with type A personalities (i.e., doctors, engineers, etc.) are usually attracted to the sport.
Data shows that in 2016, 57% of triathlon enthusiasts in the United States had an annual household income of more than $43,000, more than double the average household income in the United States, and 75% of enthusiasts were white-collar or blue-collar managers. Mark Zuckerberg has also publicly stated that he wants to complete the IRONMAN as his goal.
Kona世锦赛图源:220 triathlon
With the progress of science and technology, the competition equipment of the iron people is also changing with each passing day, and the top triathlon equipment of amateur players can be seen in each competition, which also drives the prosperity of the triathlon market and attracts all kinds of sports businesses to covet this new cake.
According to the Global Triathlon Clothing Market Insights report, the global triathlon apparel market size was $1.7 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $3.6 billion by 2030.
In China, unlike the more common marathon and trail running races, enthusiasts usually say "play triathlon" when participating in triathlons, and the fact is that swimming in open water, then riding at high speeds, and finally running long-distance races, this process is more fun and challenging than a single ride.
Back in 2015, China's Wanda Group acquired WTC for $650 million, which directly promoted the return of the Ironman event to Chinese mainland. Since then, all kinds of triathlon events have begun to enter the field of vision of the domestic masses and once showed explosive growth.
Before the epidemic, Shanghai, Xiamen, Chongqing and other cities had successfully held triathlon events, but now with the rise of outdoor craze and road running, Chinese people's enthusiasm for running, cycling, swimming and other sports is rising, and triathlon sports are also being paid attention to and participated in by more people. Data shows that in China, more than 70 triathlon events will be held in 2023, with tens of thousands of people participating.
However, due to the constraints of economy and venue requirements, triathlon is not as developed as a single sport in China, and the construction of professional teams still needs to be strengthened.
On the day of the Xishui Triathlon, the 2024 Asian Triathlon Championships was held in Hiroshima, Japan, Lin Xinyu and Yang Yifan won the silver and bronze medals in the women's excellent group, and Fan Junjie won the bronze medal in the men's excellent group. Based on the current Olympic points, Lin Xinyu's participation in the Paris Olympics is almost a foregone conclusion, but the men's athletes are still far from qualifying for the Olympics.
Source: @triathlon_japan
It is believed that in the future, with the continuous development of triathlon events and the participation of more people, China's triathlon will also get better development.
Sports, the new password for rural revitalization
Speaking of this event, due to the strict requirements for water quality in the swimming venue, the triathlon venue is also a test room for the local natural environment. Some people in the industry believe that if you want to show the superiority of the local environment, triathlon is indispensable.
The reason why the local government chose to use the triathlon event as an incision is also the consideration of showing the local customs and driving tourism through the competition.
Xishui County is located in Huanggang City, Hubei Province, with a long history and is known as "the thoroughfare of seven provinces, the key point of land and water, and the gateway to eastern Hubei Province".
In recent years, Xishui has actively implemented the strategy of "National Fitness" and "Sports Power", and has achieved remarkable results.
According to Kryptonite, most of the contestants and their entourages came to Xishui for the first time, and before and after the competition, it also injected new vitality into Xishui's tourism industry.
Chen Zhenghong, secretary of the Xishui County Party Committee, said that the holding of triathlon events is an important path for sports to empower the development of the cultural tourism industry.
Krypton also learned from the organizers that this Xishui Triathlon Race is just the beginning, and Xishui hopes to hold the Triathlon Race continuously in the future and make it a "new business card" in the local area. In addition, the title sponsor of the triathlon event, Shoukai Cultural Tourism, will continue to make efforts in the fields of leisure and health such as fishing and basketball, and enrich the fields of leisure and sports events in Xishui County.
In fact, with the in-depth implementation of the national fitness strategy, the people's enthusiasm for physical exercise has been increasing, the foundation of mass sports has been gradually consolidated, and mass sports events have come into being.
Not long ago, the three departments jointly issued a document and decided to carry out the activity of "bringing sports events into scenic spots, neighborhoods and business districts" to actively cultivate new consumption growth points such as cultural and entertainment tourism and sports events.
Since the popularity of rural sports events such as village super and village BA at the beginning of last year, sports have been regarded as an important means to promote rural revitalization, promote the utilization of regional resources and improve the happiness index of the masses. According to the data, in 2023, Qiandongnan Prefecture will receive a total of 78.7945 million tourists, achieving a comprehensive tourism income of 87.582 billion yuan, an increase of 25.75% and 37.01% year-on-year respectively.
Although it is only a special case, it is not difficult to see that various rural and urban events have been landed, which has really driven the economic development of the region.
In the future, with the further support of the government and all sectors of society for rural sports, it is foreseeable that rural sports events will continue to flourish and become a new password to promote rural revitalization and enhance the image of rural areas.
Source: Xishui Tiesan