NEWS

Tickets to Women’s Grand Final Luncheon with keyonte speaker Donna de Varona now on sale

By Erin Greene | 04 Sep, 2015

The ITU Women’s Committee will be hosting a luncheon on Thursday, Sept. 17, to discuss women in triathlon and the positive impact sport has on women, with U.S. Olympic gold medalist Donna de Varona as the keynote speaker.

Scheduled from 12-2 p.m. CT on Sept. 17, the luncheon will take place at the Congress Plaza Hotel (520 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago) in the Florentine Room. Tickets are $30 and are available through Sept. 10 at active.com.

Keynote speaker de Varona is the President of DAMAR Inc., a sports marketing, production and consulting company. She is a double U.S. Olympic gold medalist and former world record holder in swimming. Though she retired from her sport at age 17, she established more than 18 world records and fastest times, competed in two Olympic Games and was voted the most outstanding female athlete in the world in 1964-65.

Internationally, de Varona is recognized for her work as an Emmy Award winning news and sports journalist having covered 17 Olympic Games. In 1999, de Varona served as chairwoman of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the most successful women’s sporting event of that time. She continues to work with many NGOs and served on the Executive Board of the LA2015 Special Olympics Global Games Organizing Committee. This year she served as the lead advisor in creating the International Women Athletes Business Network. 

De Varona has served on the United States Olympic Committee Board and Foundation; the United States Soccer Foundation; the International Special Olympics Executive Board and is an Advisor to the U.S. Department of State Empowering Women through sport program. She is a member of the Seneca Falls Women’s Hall of Fame, the USOC Hall of Fame and the International Swimming Hall of Fame, and has earned five honorary doctorates and is a graduate of UCLA.

As a presidential appointee and U.S. Senate consultant through her focus on Title IX and the Ted Stevens Olympic and Paralympic Sports Act, de Varona has profoundly changed both the educational and athletic landscape for females around the globe. Additionally, as the founding president of the Women’s Sports Foundation, the impact of her work continues to this day. Currently she is the lead advisor to the EY Women’s athletes network, a global initiative to help women athletes transition from competitive sport to other professions. 

The ITU Women’s Committee luncheon is part of the annual meeting held by the committee at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final to discuss the future of women in the sport of triathlon. The ITU Women’s Committee ensures equality of opportunity, recognition and reward for women in multisport, and creates policies on the development of women in all sport activities.

The ITU Women’s Committee luncheon is one of many activities taking part in Chicago for the 2015 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final, with events scheduled at Grant Park from Sept. 15-19. Visit chicago.triathlon.org for more information on the 2015 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final and World Championships.

Related Event: 2015 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Chicago
15 - Sep, 2015 • event pageall results
Results: Elite Men
1. Mario Mola ESP 01:44:53
2. Javier Gomez Noya ESP 01:44:57
3. Richard Murray RSA 01:45:35
4. Crisanto Grajales MEX 01:45:40
5. Vincent Luis FRA 01:45:44
6. Fernando Alarza ESP 01:45:52
7. Aaron Royle AUS 01:46:03
8. Jelle Geens BEL 01:46:10
9. Joao Pereira POR 01:46:10
10. Ryan Bailie AUS 01:46:13
Results: Elite Women
1. Gwen Jorgensen USA 01:55:36
2. Non Stanford GBR 01:56:05
3. Vicky Holland GBR 01:56:20
4. Andrea Hansen NZL 01:56:44
5. Rachel Klamer NED 01:56:50
6. Jodie Stimpson GBR 01:57:08
7. Sarah True USA 01:57:19
8. Ai Ueda JPN 01:57:29
9. Aileen Reid IRL 01:57:37
10. Juri Ide JPN 01:57:39
Results: Junior Men
1. Manoel Messias BRA 00:51:50
2. Peer Sönksen GER 00:51:51
3. Léo Bergere FRA 00:52:01
4. Roberto Sanchez Mantecon ESP 00:52:08
5. Matthew Hauser AUS 00:52:10
6. Luke Willian AUS 00:52:12
7. Gustav Iden NOR 00:52:16
8. Ben Dijkstra GBR 00:52:20
9. Charles Paquet CAN 00:52:24
10. Gabriel Sandör SWE 00:52:32
Results: Junior Women
1. Laura Lindemann GER 00:57:28
2. Taylor Knibb USA 00:58:14
3. Lotte Miller NOR 00:58:39
4. Alberte Kjær Pedersen DEN 00:58:40
5. Hye Rim Jeong KOR 00:59:05
6. Lena Meißner GER 00:59:19
7. Ekaterina Matiukh RUS 00:59:20
8. Emily Wagner CAN 00:59:38
9. Tamara Gorman USA 00:59:45
10. Lisa Tertsch GER 00:59:47
Results: U23 Men
1. Jacob Birtwhistle AUS 01:40:51
2. David Castro Fajardo ESP 01:41:05
3. Nan Oliveras ESP 01:41:15
4. Kevin McDowell USA 01:41:38
5. Gordon Benson GBR 01:41:56
6. Russell Pennock CAN 01:42:04
7. Juan Jose Andrade Figueroa ECU 01:42:09
8. Alexis Lepage CAN 01:42:18
9. Christophe De Keyser BEL 01:42:27
10. Shachar Sagiv ISR 01:42:31
Results: U23 Women
1. Audrey Merle FRA 01:04:35
2. Leonie Periault FRA 01:04:35
3. Melanie Santos POR 01:04:46
4. Avery Evenson USA 01:04:52
5. Miriam Casillas García ESP 01:05:12
6. Vanesa De La Torre MEX 01:05:20
7. Natalie Van Coevorden AUS 01:05:23
8. Chloe Cook GBR 01:05:26
9. Johanna Gartman USA 01:05:29
10. Lizeth Rueda Santos MEX 01:05:41