We interviewed Alfonso Rodríguez de Sadia, executive director of Madrid km0

"We want the triathlete to be the protagonist of this exciting story"

"Passion, dedication and a city dedicated to sport are ingredients that will make this first edition a unique event that was born to become an international benchmark"

 

 

Surely many of you have ever wondered who are the people behind the organization of a sporting event.

But you will undoubtedly have asked this question the same day it was announced TRIATLON MADRID KM0, a large-scale project that perhaps to some of us already crossed our minds in the form of a “dream” but that Felipe Gutierrez, in his “Wednesday nap”, made a dream a reality by joining forces with Annapurna Sport , organizing company, and under the executive direction of Alfonso Rodríguez de Sadia

 

But who is Alfonso Rodríguez de Sadia?

Maybe this name will sound to many of you. Olympic sportsman in   Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988 y Barcelona 1992 in artistic gymnastics modality (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaeZeVBMxcQ) his first contact with professional sports was only 14 years old. 

After 12 years as professional in artistic gymnastics, which led him to forge his passion with sport, he decided to live this experience "from the other side".

Bachelor in Business Administration and Management, he left for the United States to pursue a master's degree in Sports Marketing, with the "dream" of managing large-scale events, an illusion that thanks to their hard work and perseverance materialized quickly.

Eight years of experience as marketing director of the return to Spain of cycling, Eurobasket or America's Cup, among others, they are just some of the projects that endorse Alfonso Rodríguez de Sadia, an Olympic athlete, businessman but above all passionate about sports.

 

Alfonso How did the idea of ​​organizing Madrid KM0 come about?

My life has always been linked to sports and after the collaboration of Annapurna, the organizing company of Madrid KM0, with a private company that organizes sporting events, including triathlon, the idea came up. And why not organize one of us?

The idea was taking shape and thanks to the good relationship of Javier, partner of the company and olimpic water polo athlete, with Felipe Gutiérrez, technical director of the Canoe Triathlon Club and now also technical director of Madrid KM0, in a few weeks it was defined .

 

But is not it easy to organize an event of this magnitude that requires so many hours of work, permits, road cuts ...? How did you propose the viability of the project to carry out its execution?

The truth is that we had traveled a long way before we started with MADRID KM0.

Having had the opportunity to work on the return to Spain for 8 years gives you a vision, experience and very wide contacts so that today it has allowed me to propose this new project with guarantees of success.

Another key point is to have a great team of professionals. Felipe Gutierrez, Director of Competitions for 11 years in the Spanish Triathlon Federation and Miguel Jorge, Technical Director of the Tour of Spain for 15 years, allow us to offer an event supported by great professionals, who are now Technical Director and Director of Production of Madrid KM0 respectively; in addition to the rest of the Staff we have.

 

 MADRID KM0 could be seen as a dream, perhaps comparable to the Tour de France with its arrival at the Arc de Triomphe de Paris. How do you get to make this dream a reality?

Passion and dedication This is the only answer.

MADRID KM0 was born to become a brand, an international benchmark. Our goal is to create a unique event, based on offering spectacular routes with an unbeatable arrival at the finish line as well as excellent services and careful attention for the triathlete.

In this part we can be very grateful to the collaborators and sponsors who have believed in the project and in its philosophy.

Our relationship with collaborating brands from the beginning and above the economic return have been based on creating synergies and with the main objective of offering services to the triathlete, where the athlete feels 100% cared for and cared for and is the true protagonist.

 

When a triathlete is enrolled in a medium or long distance test one of their main concerns is the cycling circuit, however you are a specialist in this, tell us a bit how the test will run.

The truth is that everything has been very agile since there has been a great involvement on the part of all local councils, with which we are very grateful, as well as the civil traffic police, who are real professionals, and civil protection.

Our priority is to guarantee the safety of the triathlete in all segments of the competition. Another detail is that we will pay special attention to medical services, and by this I am not only referring to ambulances, medical personnel and physiotherapists, but we will also have doctors during the competition.

 

What is MADRID KM0 looking for?

Make a dream come true Put our passion and dedication to turn this event into a reference at the international level.

Here I always echo the slogan of our sponsor MERCEDES “The best or nothing”, with whom we share the same philosophy.

We want to bring the triathlon closer to the spectator, arriving at the Puerta del Sol itself, the city vibrates with this sporting event, that feels proud to host a test of this magnitude and that the triathlete feels the true protagonist of this exciting story.

 

Further information:  http://www.triatlonmadridkm0.com/

Susana Sancha