Edmonton Triathlon – EDMONTON, February 22, 2018: Stephen Bourdeau has big shoes to fill next week, when he takes on Sheila O’Kelly’s role of general manager for the 2020 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final, leaving Sheila to focus on her role as president.

He is no stranger to the sport of triathlon, as on graduation from the University of Alberta in 2003, Sheila hired Stephen as the event manager. Three years later, he expanded his triathlon interest from local to global, in taking on the new role of media and marketing manager for the International Triathlon Union (ITU), based in Vancouver. In that role he travelled the world, fulfilling his media and marketing roles at international triathlon events. He subsequently held other event management roles, including a management position at the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games before returning home to St. Albert to take on the position of business and events manager for the City of St. Albert. He has held this position for the past five years.

“I am ecstatic to once again be part of the World Triathlon team in Edmonton,” says Stephen. “This community is recognized worldwide as a leader in the hosting of events around international triathlons. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to take my experiences and build on the solid foundation laid out by Sheila and her team during the past 20 years. 2020 is our opportunity to once again showcase Edmonton to the world.”

“I’m thrilled that Stephen is re-joining our organization and taking on the role of GM,” said O’Kelly. “Some might recognize his voice as he has been our race announcer for the past five years. I am confident that Stephen can lead our team and take the event to another level for the ITU Grand Final here in 2020.”

In looking at the immediate future, O’Kelly said: “I’m excited at the opportunity to be able to focus my efforts on strengthening relationships with our key stakeholders including the International Triathlon Union and our government partners. I’ve been doing this for a long time, and am looking forward to stepping back…but not out!”

This year’s ITU World Triathlon Series returns to Edmonton’s Hawrelak Park on Friday and Saturday, July 27 and 28. The World Paratriathlon Series races will be held on Friday afternoon, followed by the elite women and men’s races and a “Party in the Park”. The age-group athletes will race on Saturday morning, with the elite national mixed relay contests being held as the final event on Saturday afternoon. This will be the kick-off of a series of elite international mixed team relays, as a prelude to the inclusion of the event for its Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2020. The Tokyo Olympics will conclude a couple of weeks before the staging of the ITU Triathlon Grand Final in Edmonton.

ITU will begin this year’s World Triathlon Series races this weekend in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, with subsequent stops in Bermuda; Yokohama, Japan; Leeds, England; and Hamburg, Germany; before returning to Edmonton. The series continues to Montreal before the September Grand Final in Gold Coast, Australia, which earlier in the year will have been the host city of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Contact info: Christina Collins Communications christina@edmontontriathlon.org 587-759-0415 (office) 780-203-8463 (cell) edmonton.triathlon.org