NUR-SULTAN – The Central Asian Triathlon Association (CATA) will host its first race under CATA auspices Oct. 5 in Shymkent, Kazakhstan and Tashkent, Uzbekistan, according to an announcement following the Aug. 2 second CATA Congress in Almaty.
Photo credit: olympic.kz.
The event is considered part of the celebration of the Year of Kazakhstan in Uzbekistan.
The race will begin with a 1.1-kilometre swim stage in Shymkent. Participants will then bike 121 kilometres from Shymkent to the Uzbek capital where the race will end with an 11-kilometre run along Tashkent streets, reported olympic.kz.
The participants also set Sept. 22 as the start date of the CATA paratriathlon as a part of the first Asian Cup in Aktau.
During the Aug. 2 congress, CATA members, Uzbek National Triathlon Federation’s First Vice President Farrukh Nasyrov, Kyrgyz Triathlon Federation’s President Chyngyz Alkanov also discussed the organisation’s short-term goals.
Honorary guests, Iranian Triathlon Federation’s President Mahdi Goudzari and Afghan National Triathlon Federation Deputy Sports Minister Naser Ahmadi also attended the congress.
The association plans to make the Central Asian region one of the leaders in the development and popularisation of the triathlon on the Asian continent. To do this, it plans to cover all CATA activities in the media, create a regulatory framework, increase involvement in triathlon up to one percent of the population of each CATA member country and prepare professional triathletes and paratriathletes to be included in the world’s top 30 and Asian top five rankings.
The association members unanimously voted for the entry of the National Triathlon Federation of Afghanistan and Iran into the CATA. Nasyrov and Alkanov were also elected as a vice president and a senior vice president of CATA accordingly. The participants also decided to establish the Legal Committee, the Media Committee, the Competition Committee and the Paratriathlon Committee. The association approved a domain name of the official CATA website www.catatriathlon.org.
The CATA was founded in 2018 at the initiative of Kazakh Triathlon Federation President Karim Massimov. Until the second congress, the association members included Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
