Triathlon is an impressive sport for a number of reasons not least of which is its incredible popularity. It is one of the fastest growing sports in America, and hundreds of thousands of people compete in US triathlons every year. The participants themselves are special too. They vary in age from children to people 80+ years old, and while some use triathlon simply to stay healthy, the top triathletes are some of the most impressive athletes in the world.
Top triathletes train with laser focus and unmatched dedication, so that when they compete they can endure outrageous suffering and push themselves to the limits of human ability in their pursuit of success. It's crazy.
At their highest levels road racing and triathlon require similar sacrifices: the dedication, the willingness to suffer, the incredible physical and mental demands. But beyond this, road racers and triathletes share a need that is greatly important to us here at Williams, both demand dependable, high performance bicycle components.
One of our big goals here at Williams for 2012 is to make a big push into triathlon. We want to encourage all triathletes, from the beginner, to the age grouper, to the professional, to learn about how our products can improve their performance, and we want to learn from them about how we can design future products to better suit the tri community.
Part of our strategy for this is to work directly with professional triathletes. These elite athletes will be our ambassadors to the sport, and will work closely with us as we refine our designs and continue to innovate so that Williams can offer the best possible products. With that, I'm excited to announce our first signing to what will be a solid list of professional triathletes, Kyle Leto.
Kyle is a bright young star in the sport of Triathlon. Kyle was the USAT Rookie of the Year in 2009 and he's only gotten better since then. 2011 was a breakout year for Kyle, which saw him finish the season with an impressive 10 top ten finishes. Included among those was a stunning 5th place at Vineman 70.3 where Kyle bested many of the stars of the sport including Matty Reed, Chris and Matt Lieto and former World Champion Tim O'Donnell.
For 2012 Kyle has put the day job on hold and will focus 100% on triathlon. We believe that this new, extra time to train combined with Kyle's existing determination and natural talent will launch him into the highest levels of the sport. We're proud to have Kyle as a sponsored athlete, and we look forward to helping him achieve true greatness in triathlon.