2025 World Triathlon Multisport Championships Pontevedra, ‘gold’ in sustainability

The event is more planet-friendly thanks to containment and proximity measures.

The environmental efforts made by the local organisation of the championship won the admiration of the World Triathlon, which certified with the highest distinction the sustainability policy that was implemented on the occasion of the celebration.

Pontevedra's actions were channelled through a local working group that monitors the entire production process of the event in order to leave the minimum environmental footprint and any element of consumption, so that it causes the least damage to the environment.

One example is the reduction of single-use water bottles, which are replaced by water cups and fountains installed by Viaqua - a company that actively collaborates in the management of this area - a device that includes metal cages of considerable size to throw the cups from the bikes or foot races in the middle of the competition. These cups are washed and reused next year.

Re-use also includes the policy of advertising tarpaulins, an element of high consumption both for the aesthetic configuration of the circuits and for its potential to spread the name of the city through photographs or images. Most of them are reused from other years and others are designed in such a way that they can be used for the Grand Final in 2026.

Another highly valued measure is the proximity behaviour throughout the management of the championship, because although some elements are produced outside Galicia, the vast majority of the materials and suppliers are from Pontevedra, which benefits the economic structure related to the cultural and sports industry of the city.

Sustainability also includes the bouquets of flowers that are given to the winners, which make up the workshop of the Juan XXIII Association of people with different abilities, promoting integration and respect for the environment, as they are dried flowers, also with a high symbolic power.

Also noteworthy are the actions to collect clothes and sports footwear for reuse through the Boa Vida Association, which distributes them to people in need, and the collaboration with the Association against Cancer on the use of environmentally friendly creams. The involvement of the local associative movement is also highly valued by the organisation.

These measures and many others make up a series of sustainable behaviours that are added to those that the city already uses on a daily basis and which have made it an international urban environmental benchmark, especially in relation to mobility, the treatment of solid urban waste and the water cycle, three aspects with a notable environmental dimension.

The sustainability team, coordinated by the Pontevedra-based company Equilátero DSC - which started this work here and now carries out this type of controls in other international events - was very satisfied with this gold medal, announced yesterday by the environmental director of the World Triathlon, Jen Cerullo.