The ARTIEM HALF MENORCA TRIATHLÓN is canceled

The organization ARTIEM HALF MENORCA TRIATHLÓN is obliged to communicate, against our will, the cancellation of this test scheduled for September 20, 2020.

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The organization is working to offer an alternative during the same dates in which the test had to be held.

For this, it will propose a triathlon in a nearby locationa, Olympic triathlon style, with participation restriction and with all the security measures required by the health authorities.

On their website, they issue a statement explaining what happened

Official announcement

"Yesterday, August 5, 2020, we received a notification of resolution from the Mercadal City Council, where it states:

"I inform you, for your knowledge and corresponding effects, that, given the health situation and the development of the Covid-19 pandemic, the City Council is NOT satisfied with the celebration of the proposed sporting event, since it considers that with a significant agglomeration of participants, plus the possible public that congregates, it becomes difficult to comply with the security measures established by the health authorities ".

Faced with this unexpected disagreement (denial), in a totally discretionary way, regarding the NO authorization for the celebration of the "ARTIEM HALF MENORCA TRIATLÓN", we want to state the following:

1. We respect, although we do not understand, the decision of the Mercadal City Council NOT to authorize this test.

The City Council, in its day, clearly opted for the sports tourism model and has supported the test since its inception. This support has been maintained in all editions of the test, until now.

2. The organization of the "ARTIEM HALF MENORCA TRIATLÓN" is totally in disagreement with the decision made by the Mercadal City Council.

We present a document in which we consider that we comply with point VII of the Annex to the "Plan for Exceptional Prevention, Containment and Coordination measures to deal with the health crisis caused by Covid-19", current regulations.

We believe that the protocols and the security measures plan that have been presented and that have been specifically developed to carry out this test have not been evaluated.

EThese protocols are the result of meetings with the DGE (General Directorate of Sports) of the Government of the Balearic Islands and with sports federations during different previous meetings.

Last Tuesday, August 4, 2020, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Sports sent us the model to fill out the application for authorization to hold sports competitions for more than 150 participants, a model that we have presented and were awaiting the response.

The Government of the Balearic Islands, the Consell and the Mercadal City Council already had the documentation sent of classified activities of the Insular Council of Menorca since the beginning of July.

It hurts us that, despite explaining some of the measures via phone, others via WhatsApp, and having advanced the draft with all the measures taken…. We have not had the opportunity to explain all the measures and protocols adopted, nor have we been able to explain how we would proceed at all times in a face-to-face meeting, especially given the uncertainty we are experiencing.

3.- Within the applicable security measures, most are intended to avoid crowds in places or areas where we know that many people would be concentrated;

– Elimination of non-essential services and functions, such as the “finisher experience” at the post-finish finish line, the physiotherapy service, showers and changing rooms, the “Briefing” that will be carried out digitally, not in person.

- Limitation of participants if necessary.

– Increased distances in “Boxes”, among many other rules in this area.

– “Rolling Start” starts (which is a time trial type competition, which avoids crowds at the starts and spaces in a very considerable way and, also, the flow of participants within the swimming transitions.

The athletes leave in small groups, in shifts of 6 people every 8" thus maintaining a safe distance between the groups and with a forecast of departures of 42 and 48 people per minute, respectively).

We also propose limiting public capacity in the start and finish areas, including the possibility of banning the public in the event of a more complicated scenario than what we currently have.

On the other hand, we guarantee hygiene and prevention measures, such as disinfections, temperature controls, facilitating disinfectant solution dispensers, masks, etc.

4. We want to declare that we are aware that sports events cannot be carried out in the same way as those held in 2019.

We must prioritize the sports part and leave the festive part for 2021 (we will have time to recover the lucid part of the sport).

Since July, we have organized, prepared and executed different races and triathlons on the islands, and in all of them we have applied the appropriate measures and protocols in each case.

We believe that these tests have helped us to become aware and gain experience and thus be able to carry out more complicated organizational tests.

This new vision of sporting event that we have as organizers, we believe is shared by the same athletes who are aware that it is time to adapt to the new reality.

The same athletes and the public that has attended the events that we have held so far have shown exemplary behavior, always respecting the rules that should be applied at all times.

This fact has been demonstrated with the photos that were published these days of the "Platja Gran" Triathlon in Ciutadella. In a relatively cramped venue, more than 100 people participated in a sprint triathlon.

This format is completely contrary to the "Artiem Half Menorca", which is a long distance test, in which there are athletes who reach the finish line more than 5 hours apart.

5. We as a company, and also personally, know that the moment we have to live is very complex.

New and different realities, fears, doubts appear, but what we have clearer is that we are the first to prioritize and we want to guarantee the safety of the athletes, our staff and the volunteers and the accompanying public.

We are aware that in these circumstances the primary criterion is set by the health situation, which at this time we do not consider to be a sufficient reason to have canceled this test.

Our philosophy, at the moment, is to learn to live with a virus that cannot paralyze us. For this reason, we must be careful and responsible and learn to find a balance between continuing with the activities that we normally did and the sanitary measures that must be taken to avoid infections, but, above all, being aware of their possible consequences.

Sport is an important activity that favors the physical and mental health of people, as has been shown during the confinement that we live.

Based on these considerations, we have worked to transform (and yes, we use the word transform) sports events to adapt and make them safe, we do without anything unnecessary or a source of risk.

We look for alternatives to situations that can create crowds, we have enough statistical data with the histories of timestamps of other tests to make a real forecast of the passage of a corridor for each point, with surprising results as steps with volumes less than 5 people per minute.

It only remains to say that we are aware that we are immersed in times of change and adaptation. We have dedicated many hours and we have done a lot of work in this regard and unfortunately all this work has been lost due to the non-authorization of the test by the Mercadal City Council and this comes at a time when many Menorcan companies are about to hang up. closed sign.

IMPORTANT NOTE: We want to communicate that we are currently working to offer an alternative during the same dates that the test had to be held, proposing a triathlon in a nearby location, Olympic triathlon style, with participation restriction and with all security measures required by health authorities.

We will inform you shortly.