By Duncan Mackay

Mixed relaty triathlon 2July 11 - Marisol Casado, President of the International Triathlon Union (ITU), has vowed the sport will not give up on its attempt to get the mixed relay on to the Olympic programme, even though its hopes of it being included on the programme for Rio 2016 have been controversially dashed.


The ITU were confident that it would be added to the programme but now the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board have ruled that no new disciplines will be considered for the next Games because of fears it would put more financial pressure on Brazilian organisers.

"Obviously we were disappointed no disciplines would be added to the programme," Casado told insidethegames.

"But that doesn't mean we won't stop with our effort to have mixed relay included in future Olympic programmes."

Star athletes like Britain's Jonathan Brownlee and Sweden's Lisa Nordén, both London 2012 individual medallists, had campaigned for mixed relay's inclusion at Rio 2016.

Mixed relay triathlon 3Mixed relay has been added to the 2014 Commonwealth Games but will have to wait to be included in the Olympics after it was decided not to add any new disciplines for Rio 2016

The mixed relay sees two women and two men each competing in a "super-sprint" format before tagging their next team-mate.

The event made its major Games debut at the inaugural Singapore 2010 Youth Olympics and will be contested at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games, the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and the Incheon 2014 Asian Games.

"We are confident the event is good for the sport," said Casado, herself a member of the IOC.

"Not only is the dynamic event exciting for both athletes and spectators, the balance of men and women promotes gender equality and team camaraderie - two things the Olympics is all about.

"As both triathlon and the Olympics continue to evolve, we will continue to campaign for the inclusion of mixed relay in the Olympics, as well as all international games.

"The decision may be a temporary setback, but it's not the end of the road."

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