Gurye-gun Selected for International Triathlon Competition Public Project

8th Annual Event This Year, Established as a Wannabe Competition for Domestic and International Triathletes

The scene from the competition held in 2018

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Gurye-gun (Governor Kim Soon-ho) announced yesterday that the international triathlon competition (Ironman Gurye Korea) was selected for the "National Subsidy Support Project for International Sports Competitions Hosted by Local Governments" organized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, securing 400 million KRW in national subsidies, an increase of 100 million KRW compared to the previous year.

This national subsidy competition selected 22 events from 13 cities and provinces through document screening and PT presentations.

The international triathlon competition is a full-course event hosted by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), featuring an extreme race consisting of 3.8 km swimming, 180 km cycling, and 42.2 km running.

Co-hosted by the Gurye-gun Sports Council and the Korea Triathlon Federation, the event has been held annually in Gurye-gun since 2014, and this year it is scheduled to take place over five days from August 26 to August 30.

The WTC, which hosts the competition, first started triathlon in Hawaii, USA in 1978.

There are 164 events worldwide (45 full-course, 119 half-course) and 26 events in Asia (5 full-course, 21 half-course).

The Gurye event is the only domestic competition with qualification for the Hawaii World Championship, and with 36% foreign participants, it truly represents an international competition.

Meanwhile, the event was consecutively canceled due to Typhoon Tapah in 2019 and the spread of the coronavirus last year, causing disappointment among athletes and related parties.

Kim Soon-ho, Governor of Gurye-gun, stated, “With the selection for this project, we will prepare a successful event to make up for the disappointment of previous cancellations, establish thorough quarantine plans and response systems including non-face-to-face event operations, and organize a more substantial competition.” He added, “We will firmly establish Gurye as the mecca of triathlon and strive to revitalize the local economy, which has been struggling due to flood damage and COVID-19, through continuous visits by athletes and tourists.”

The county plans to operate the opening ceremony and race briefing non-face-to-face, focusing on quarantine and safety, and promote the event nationwide through TV advertisements and internet broadcasts.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.