2010World Triathlon Championship, Budapest - Set

Magyar Posta greets the World Triathlon Championship to be held in Budapest between 8-12 September 2010 with the issue of a special stamp. The triathlon is a young sports event consisting in order of swimming, cycling and running. The three events are carried out by the competitors one after the other with no rest in such a way that the clothing changing time between two events – so-called transition time – also counts in the race time. The International Triathlon Union (ITU) founded in 1989 worked for five years for the triathlon to become an Olympic sports event. On the basis of the decision made in Paris in 1994 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), it was first taken up among the sports events in 2000 at the Sydney Olympics. The history of the sport linked to the Olympics reached a new milestone in December 2008, when the IOC put it in the program of the Youth Olympic Games debuting in 2010 in Singapore. On the basis of a decision made at the beginning of 2006 the Hungarian Triathlon Association applied for the right to hold the 2010 world championships. The ITU awarded the event to Budapest at its congress held in September 2006 against the British application from Manchester-Salford by a margin of 30:19. Since its foundation the ITU has held world championships every year, and the capital city of Hungary is the first Central Easter European country to receive the opportunity to host the event. (Source: hu.wikipedia.org * zalaszam.hu) Graphic compositions depicting the individual sports of the triathlon (cycling, swimming, running) are shown on the stamp, which elements are repeated on the first day cover and – in stylised form – on the special cancellation stamp as well.