alt BRITISH COMPANY BG is ending its sponsorship of the International Triathlon Union (ITU) two years into a nine-year agreement that was supposed to take the sport beyond the 2012 London Olympics, it was revealed today.

BG and the ITU announced the $2 million (£1 million) a-year partnership in 2006, saying that the utility company would support the sport's annual World Cup series until 2014, as well as provide funding for individual athletes.
 
The decision to end the sponsorship at the end of 2008 was announced in a statement issued on behalf of BG and the sport, posted on the ITU's Web site.
 
"We're proud of what we have achieved together, particularly the establishment of a global sports development program,'' ITU President Les McDonald said in the statement.
 
When the sponsorship was announced BG said "the partnership is unprecedented in the history of triathlon with BG Group providing significant resources and investment to support the sport’s global development at both grass roots and elite levels."
 
BG declined to comment further through its sponsorship agency, Guildford, England-based BrandRapport.
 
The first race in the 2008 ITU World Cup series is scheduled for Mooloolaba, Australia, on March 30.