"A luxury event" that will receive around 470 athletes from 39 countries and which, despite being 19 years old, continues to grow. The Quarteira International Triathlon Prof. Carlos Gravata starts this Saturday, November 6th, and will also put the city's economy in motion.
The press conference for the presentation of the competition took place on the eve of the start of the competition, next to the finish line, in front of the Dom José Beach Hotel.
Along the Calçadão de Quarteira, many of the athletes who headed to the Algarve were passing by to compete in this competition, which has a big news this year: the integration of the Junior World Championship.
Vasco Rodrigues, president of the Federation of Triathlons of Portugal, considered that this was a leap “which has been long overdue”.
"It is the first time that Portugal will host a World Junior Triathlon Championship, which will make us have a very significant improvement, welcoming new countries," he said.
This year, in addition to being part of the European Cup for Elites and Juniors and the Portuguese Cup, the Quarteira Triathlon is also part of the Junior World Cup, which makes athletes from countries like Mexico, the United States, Japan , New Zealand or South Korea are present.
“We will have a luxury event. We are going to take a leap from the point of view of the organization and that is important», considered Vasco Rodrigues.
For Quarteira, this is also a crucial event – even more, at a time of economic recovery. The Dom José Beach Hotel accommodates the athletes and João Soares, director of the hotel unit, guaranteed that this is a “very important” event.
«This is what positions the Algarve in the low season. By having this initiative, we ended up having an impact on the economy and also on the image that remains of the excellent conditions we have», he said.
And, at this point, there is something that "we can still work". «We have the challenge of attracting internships to take this even further», considered the hotel entrepreneur.
Telmo Pinto, president of the Parish Council of Quarteira, in addition to stressing the impact of this event on the local economy, also spoke of the need to expand these gains throughout the year.
“We had a good October, but what interests us is also managing to attract more internships. For our part, we are always prepared to help», he considered.
Carlos Carmo, councilor of the Loulé Council with responsibility for Sports, guaranteed that this is an area in which the municipality also wants to work.
"There were even prior meetings, with federations, to show them the facilities we have and this is a job that we are going to do again," he said.
For now, attention is focused on what will happen in the three competitions: Junior World Cup, World Cup and Portugal Cup.
In juniors, there is great Portuguese hope. Alexandre Montez, who has already been crowned, for example, young Olympic runner-up in 2018. Alexandre was at the press conference and guaranteed that he will fight for victory: «a World Cup in Portugal is special and I'm very prepared to be the most high level», said the athlete.
This Saturday, the Triathlon International races start at 13:00, with prizes being awarded at 17:30. On Sunday, there will be competitions almost all day, starting at 8:45 am and only ending at 16:00 pm.
Photos: Pedro Lemos | Sul Informação
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