A weekend of sport in Palermo in breathtaking scenery. The Mondello Cup, a sprint triathlon race, organized by Now Team Asd, is back, now in its eighth edition, and with it the seafront is preparing to host other athletes on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th May thanks to the activities put in place by Endas Sicily and Oxygen Group. Changes to the road network are expected (click below to read the Municipality’s ordinance).
Over the years, the Mondello Cup has become a must in the annual schedule of Fitri, the Italian triathlon federation. This year it will take place over two days: Saturday will be dedicated to the Aquathlon Kids Youth (stage of the regional championship), Sunday will be the highlight with the triathlon valid for the overall regional championship. In the sprint distance challenge, the triathletes will compete by swimming 750 meters in the waters of the Gulf of Mondello, 20 kilometers by bike inside the Parco della Favorita and 5 kilometers by running along the seafront. Around 400 participants are expected, also from the rest of Italy. Changes to traffic are foreseen by an ordinance of the Municipality.
A curiosity: this year the swimming caps for the athletes will be pink to recall the sporting event, organized by the Now Team itself, on 24 November 2024: Palermo in RosaLia. An event that this year coincides with the four hundredth anniversary of the Santa Rosalia Feast which will be aimed at raising awareness against violence against women and feminicides.
On the eve of the triathlon, thanks to the partnership between Now Team Asd and Oxygen Group, a fitness village will be set up in Piazza Valdesi to celebrate 20 years of the multipurpose sports centers of Oxygen Group, a leader in fitness with 5 locations in the city. Here on Saturday afternoon the Oxygen Functional Challenge 2024 will take place, a team challenge (at 4pm), a zumba session (at 5.15pm) and finally a DJ set (at 6.30pm).
«The Municipality – declares the mayor Roberto Lagalla – is enthusiastic about supporting the eighth edition of the Mondello Cup triathlon and we are pleased to see how the organizers have decided to dedicate this year’s event to the four hundredth anniversary of Santa Rosalia and to a a very just cause, such as the fight against violence against women and feminicides. It is nice to underline how the world of sport also gives importance to Santa Rosalia in a year that will be extraordinarily important for the city precisely because of this anniversary and, for this reason, my thanks go to the organizers of the Mondello Cup and the Italian Triathlon Federation” .
«This year the collaboration between the municipal administration and the Italian Triathlon Federation is renewed – says the municipal councilor for Sport Alessandro Anello – which with the Mondello Cup projects Palermo to the top on a national level of this discipline that is as demanding as it is spectacular. Sports events of this caliber are also important in terms of tourism development and the many fans expected from all over the country will contribute to the growth of the city in this direction too.”
«Another weekend in the name of sport – states Germano Bondì, president of Endas Sicilia – in a beautiful city like Palermo which confirms itself as a reference for large sporting events, a ferment that stimulates all sports organizations to organize more and more quality initiatives at the service of athletes and the promotion of sport, raising awareness among citizens of the practice of correct lifestyles”.
«I am sure that this year too the Mondello Cup will bring prestige to the Sicilian triathlon thanks to the professionalism of Daniele Di Gregoli, the volcanic mind of the Now Team as well as my regional advisor in Fitri Sicily», claims Mario Lombardo, president of the Sicily triathlon regional committee. «Last week – adds Lombardo – in a conversation with the national president Riccardo Giubilei the possibility of reorganizing an international event in Sicily in 2025 arose and I immediately proposed the wonderful gulf of Mondello and the Now Team as the organizing company given the “excellent final stage of the Gran Prix Triathlon in 2021 which was also broadcast live on Rai Sport.”
THE MUNICIPAL ORDER WITH CHANGES TO TRAFFIC
