Triathlon and Sports Globalization II

Regarding triathlon per se, it is difficult to globalize it.  Education is a huge problem and there are no triathlon centers in the world.  As I mentioned, timing is necessary to acquire the benefits of training and timing is tight to education.  In Mexico we try to globalize sports and we end up practicing something that looks like triathlon.  Our age groupers that have the chance to compete in the Worlds are ex-pros or on the way to become a pro.  There is no culture to support a group of amateurs because there is no background to start practicing triathlon; as far as I remember just 7% of the population "walks/runs" an hour a week (according to our census).

The USA tried to globalize some athletes and they were training in Australia 10 years ago, that is how the females were able to compete at a good level, Barb Lindquist was the main example.  Darren Smith, after leaving the Australian team, built a group to globalize triathlon with some success, but it is obvious that it is very limited (eight females).  Sarah Groff is one of the Darren´s athletes.  Education, once more, places the biggest role in the success of globalization.  Triathlon is a new sport and the knowledge about the triathlon´s demands are not well known by the majority of the athlete´s families.  They do not know that practicing Olympic triathlon is very different from practicing ironman.  They are two different sports.  Macca knows more than anyone the differences.

We have tried to develop a culture before speaking of globalization to support triathlon in our community, but education has been the problem.  Triathlon is totally different from training soccer, basketball, diving, archery.  Triathlon needs somebody involved 365 days a year if he/she wants to be at the top.  Rest 365 days a year if she/he wants to be at the top.  One has to love what he/she does and lives for it, if she/he wants to be a triathlete with some success.

TRIATHLON IS FOR ALREADY GLOBALIZED PEOPLE and not the opposite.