NZ dropped off World Triathlon Series calendar

The Elite women dive in the water to start their race at the 2015 Elite Women's ITU World Triathlon in Auckland. 29 March 2015 New Zealand Herald Photograph by Nick Reed.

• New Zealand is off the premier World Triathlon Series calendar after a run of five years with Auckland as a host city;
• Rising costs, combined with insufficient mass participation numbers, meant the sums didn't add up for Triathlon New Zealand;
• TNZ took the decision to withdraw, and chief executive Craig Waugh admitted this year's event was touch and go on financial grounds;
• New Zealand still hosts a World Cup event, on the second tier circuit, in New Plymouth.

New Zealand reluctantly walked away from the World Triathlon Series because the numbers simply did not work, according to chief executive Craig Waugh.

And in another blow to the multisport community, Ironman 70.3 Auckland has also been dropped because it didn't work financially through high operating costs and a lack of participants. It had been a feature of the sporting landscape here for the past three years.

Auckland has withdrawn from the World Triathlon Series primarily for financial reasons, having been one of the elite destinations for the eight-event premier circuit for the last five years. A shortage of mass participant numbers - as distinct from the top-drawer athletes - meant there wasn't sufficient money to cover the wide range of costs involved.

And Waugh confirmed this year's event based at the Auckland waterfront, had been touch and go.

"We're not in a stadium, where you can charge an entry fee," Waugh said. "It requires participants to come and take part and help fund the event. It became a bridge too far. Numbers were not high enough and unfortunately we've had to make that decision."

By Waugh's reckoning, the event drew approximately 1000-1500 non-elite athletes this year. It needed around 2500 to break even. Entry cost on average was around $120 this year.

Ask the elite athletes and they'll unanimously swear Auckland is one of the best venues for a WTS leg, with a gruelling cycle leg followed by a demanding run.

Waugh insisted the withdrawal had nothing to do with the elite side of the event. This year, 35 of the world's top 40 men and women were in Auckland; last year it was 37.

Their support has been unequivocal, and Waugh knows New Zealand's best, such as world No 3 Andrea Hewitt, 14th-ranked Tony Dodds and North Shore local Ryan Sissons, will be gutted.

The bottom line is that it was the bottom line that has undone Auckland as a major triathlon venue.

"We've worn a loss to do it and it's got to a point where you give everyone a damn good chance to support it, and if they don't then you've got to make a decision," Waugh said.

The cost of hosting the event was between $1.1 and $1.4 million. Waugh said the costs would be roughly the same anywhere else in the world. The difference was larger cities had a bigger market place to work with.

Can it return? Waugh is optimistic. He's unstinting in his praise for the support from local and central government. Organisers will hunker down and look at ways to get it back on the calendar. The International Triathlon Union is disappointed to lose Auckland and if NZT can solve the participation conundrum, he's confident the ITU would look favourably on a New Zealand return to the top circuit.

There are two newcomers on the list of host cities for next year's WTS - Leeds, home city of the champion Brownlee brothers, London Olympic champion Alastair and Jonny - and Cozumel in Mexico, which will host the grand final in September.

Other cities on the schedule include Abu Dhabi, which will host the opening event in March, the Gold Coast, Yokohama on May 14-15, which will double as the final opportunity for athletes to secure Olympic qualifying points for Rio next year, Stockholm, Hamburg and Edmonton.