Grantc Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 Durban - The future of the windfall Ironman 70.3 triathlon in Durban is in the balance after a race director was assaulted by a group of people claiming to be an eThekwini councillor and her bodyguards.A member of the public who intervened said he was also thrown to the ground and punched. The incident happened on Saturday, at about 1pm, while Ironman staff were preparing for Sunday’s big race. It forced the organisers of the lucrative event to make a last-minute change to the route so it bypassed a lawned area and beach car park popular with revellers.Race officials had closed off parking areas along the beachfront promenade, from Suncoast to Laguna Beach paddling pools, to clean the roads of broken bottles and litter, ahead of the race.According to one official, a woman who identified herself as an eThekwini councillor arrived and demanded that a security guard allow her to drive into the car park to join friends.Access had been blocked by temporary gates.According to the official, who asked not to be named, her friends came to her aid. They verbally assaulted the guard and tried to lift the gate and push it aside.The guard alerted a race director and the metro police, who then arrived.The woman, who had been joined by two men claiming to be her bodyguards, shoved the race director around.Another witness, who works in the area, said one of the men was holding a rifle. The witness was also threatened, and also asked not to be named.The witness showed cellphone camera pictures of the alleged councillor and her entourage.The race director said he was physically assaulted by the woman in the presence of metro police officers.“I had racist remarks like, ‘I must pack and leave this country as I am not welcome here’. And, ‘the time for whites has come to an end’, hurled at me,” he said.A member of the public, an accountant, who came to the aid of the race director, said he was also shoved around by the woman.The accountant, who did not want to be named, said all hell then broke loose.“The woman and her friends threw a tantrum. I was pushed to the ground and punched. My shirt was ripped off me.“I have scratch marks on my stomach. We did not open cases because we fear being victimised,” the accountant said.Finally metro police intervened and after more than an hour of arguing they let the woman in with her car.Neither the woman nor her companions produced any identification, nor did her vehicle, a Honda sedan, have any municipal markings.Contacted for comment, Paul Wolff, race director of Ironman 70.3 South Africa, said they had received no assistance from the metro police in cordoning off the parking area.He could not confirm if the people involved were municipal officials. Wolff confirmed a race director frantically phoned him when the incident occurred.“I told him to leave it, we will have to deviate the route. We had permission to close the parking lot by metro police. We had paid the city a lot of money for the use of its land for the event.”“The incident forced us to change the route and deviate from that area. We could not control the crowds overnight and could not clean up in time. People were allowed to drink in public. We had to use the road alongside the M4,” Wolff said.“In other cities they sponsor the services but here we had to pay. If the city does not buy into it we won’t be coming back to Durban.“The businesses and athletes want us back so it is up to the city to come on board,” Wolff added.The race was completed by 2 914 athletes, attracting many visitors to the city.The city had not commented at the time Daily News went to press http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/ironman-race-director-assaulted-1.1896567#.VcrUcbFBuWg
Long Wheel Base Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 Just typical. No further comments from me otherwise I will just pop a fuse.
raptor-22 Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 Hmmmm and Durban wants the Olympics..... Huh?!
Shebeen Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 Just typical. No further comments from me otherwise I will just pop a fuse.well would be interesting if the commonwealth games adjudicators read this
lekker man Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 Ag no hey... really... this country is becoming a joke...
lekker man Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 Ag no hey... really... this country is becoming a joke... There, I fixed it myself
davem Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 Let's not tar and feather the whole of Durban for the actions of a few self important racists. Of course the race will be back. You don't walk away from R7.5m in entry fees and even more in tourism revenue. Durban very clearly understands the value of the sports tourist. Calm shall return, humble pie will be served quietly in private.
Bateleur1 Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 Let's not tar and feather the whole of Durban for the actions of a few self important racists. Of course the race will be back. You don't walk away from R7.5m in entry fees and even more in tourism revenue. Durban very clearly understands the value of the sports tourist. Calm shall return, humble pie will be served quietly in private. Like Pretoria screwed up one of their up an comming events a few years ago? Would not put my money on the humble pie being served.
IceCreamMan Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 Let's not tar and feather the whole of Durban for the actions of a few self important racists. Of course the race will be back. You don't walk away from R7.5m in entry fees and even more in tourism revenue. Durban very clearly understands the value of the sports tourist. Calm shall return, humble pie will be served quietly in private.yip, money talks ..... however, the issue of paying the city for road closures etc is another issue all together and confirms that PE and EL were doing it for free. Costs must be fairly high and would also explain the little 20km loop back as this would of meant less of the M4 would be closed = lower costs to IM. Essentailly money talks ... 7.5 mil in entry fees. 35 bar in tourist income...cant be overlooked on a weekend where I guess hotel trade would be sluggish as its not school holidays. This will sell out in 2 weeks for 2016 I reckon
Bonus Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 About 15 years ago when I was a member of a small running club where I lived in the south of England I helped marshal a race we held. It was part of the "Fun Run" series. The race was on a Sunday morning, all of it was cross country. The final 400m was a fast twisty down hill through some trees and into the grounds of the local sports center but went past the entrance gate to some council allotments. (A piece of land where people who want to grow vegetables but only have small gardens at home can rent and come and do their thing) My post was at these gates. People who rolled up in their cars to do gardening were asked politely to please park around the corner and walk into the allotments while he race was in progress. It was no more than a 50m walk and runners were only going to be going past this point for 20 mins or so. Everyone was happy to comply, and would even encourage the runners as they passed, except one guy. This unpleasant little man told me in no uncertain terms that it was his right to drive his car across the trail we were using and into the allotments whenever he chose to. That we had no right to do what we were doing, who the hell did runners think they were anyway, etc etc etc. I had to marshal runners around his car whilst he stopped across the path and got out to slowly unlock the gates. So, there's always one knobhead. Regardless of the size of event, amount of money involved or what country you live in. Intolerance, unpleasantness, self importance.
lekker man Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 Bring it to Cape Town And cancel the swim...
davem Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 So, there's always one knobhead. Regardless of the size of event, amount of money involved or what country you live in. Intolerance, unpleasantness, self importance. Always. Whether it be your guy, the middle aged lady who is prepared to force her big 4x4 through runners so as not to be late to put on her act at church (oops, am I being judgmental there?) or someone like appeared in Durban.
davem Posted August 12, 2015 Posted August 12, 2015 Bring it to Cape Town They couldn't keep the WTS series in CT.
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