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TriStar Monaco Relay Request
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PC - you're thinking too deeply from a negative view - start thinking positively
As PS says, you've known for some time about the entry so your cyclist should have done what was required in time.
Dave is also right in saying that the race management won't have a clue who signed the form or what they've done to check the person over before they sign the form - hence why bother? and travel insurance won't cover you for racing unless you have a specific cover from a specialist sports cover insurer - mine covers me for racing triathlon anywhere in Europe. but then that's backed up by BTF membership so I don't NEED to get a med cert - and in many cases that costs less than a GP signature!!. a EHIC card (the old E111) will also cover people for minor injuries throughout Europe - they're free to get hold of and everyone who travels should have one without exception as it gives you basic health cover without insurance needed.
if anyone enters a non-UK event they should do the joined up thinking in advance and not leave it until the last moment
finally - if the person concerned isn't medically fit enough to start with and needs to get a full checkup to say they are fit to go, why choose someone like that in the 1st place? seems self defeating imho. I would think that 99.9% of us on here who enter races have no known underlying medical conditions that prevent us racing and don't need a med cert - those who fall into that 0.1% category will know and will be fully checked over in advance.
Apart from trying to kill myself racing ironman at an advanced age !
fat buddha, I'm thinking truthfully. I don't see why thinking falsely (as several in this thread appear to want me to do) would help anybody.
The runner (who as I stated on several previous occasions, is the one coming in at short notice) is the one who'd need the certificate (or, if it really does exempt, which I'm now seriously starting to doubt given the inaccuracy of other information I've been given here, the British Triathlon membership). The way the regs for Monaco were written implied a (short) medical was needed unless the competitor was specifically a member of the French equivalent of British Triathlon, and that being a member of some other triathlon organisation would not yield reciprocal rights (unless of course the triathlon organisation's rules required a medical at least once per year and gave the competitor a written confirmation that said medical had happened). The cyclist was the one doubting the timetable.
The race management aren't the ones who most need the certificate to be genuine (in theory they could throw you out or sue if you offered a false one (and, in the latter case, caused the organisers to incur extra expense), but they'd probably think the medical expenses you incurred if you got injured and invalidated your insurance would be punishment enough). It's the travel insurance people and the medical staff. And in the first instance, those in the group with an invalidated-insuranced individual (i.e. the relay team-mates) are the ones who have to clear up the mess. A lack of known pre-existing conditions does not act as exemption for regulatory or travel requirements. You can - or should be able to - see why the cyclist was worried.
Many travel insurance companies state they cover non-professional triathlons in the small print. A couple insure it if you tell them and/or pay a supplement, but many will do so for no extra cost or information (especially if they are below a particular distance). The EHIC site, alongside most other travel sites, shows clearly that EHIC doesn't cover all expenses, so depending on one of those alone is fairly pricey (of course, some insurers consider medical elements EU insurance invalid if you don't have an EHIC as you would not have defrayed costs to the highest reasonable extent).
There's a limit as to how joined-up thinking can be for any event involving multiple people (wherever it is located). One can control one's own actions but not those of a team-mate! I guess what I can control is who are my team-mates in the first place. Given how... ...casual... certain respondents have been to regulatory and travel requirements, I will clearly have to be more careful with anyone invited from this forum. This saddens me, but it has to be done.
BTF membership covers you to race without medical certification in any other country who's national tri federation is a member of the ITU - this includes France.
And it seems plain to me that that is also confirmed in the FAQs attached to the Med Cert download: (my bolded word)
"1. Do I need a medical certificate?
If you do not possess a valid license of a national
Triathlon Federation, you need a one-day license
delivered by the local Triathlon Federation during
registration on spot."
and this is from a French tri that we are looking at for next year:
"Athletes with a licence from the Fédération Française de Triathlon, or any other national federation affiliated to the I.T.U. will pay the « licence » price. Athletes without a valid ITU affiliated licence can perform on our races, providing they produce a medical certificate establishing they are fit for triathlon competitions (established up to six months prior to the race) and subscribe for a Day-Licence (forms will be available at the registration office on the day of the race)."
anyhoo - we are racing a tri in France on 8th September and are relying on this being valid as we don't have med certs but do have BTF membership cards. if there's any issue - I'll let you know....
Just another word- my OH recently did a Channel relay swim, for that he needed a special form filled out and signed by his doctor to say in her opinion there was no underlying medical condition that would prevent him attempting such a strenuous event - it was a hell of a struggle to get her to sign it and even then she insisted on blood tests and that he go to a specialist for an EKG and stress test before she would sign it. It took weeks to get it all done.
Here is what TriStar Monaco says about the subject:
DAY LICENSE
If you are not licensed athletes, you can participate in the TriStar111 relay race with a One-Day-License from the FMTri.
During your registration, fill in and sign the application and join:
30€ for the FFTri one-day-licence in cash
medical certificate indicating that you are allowed to participate in a triathlon competititon. This certificate has to be not older than 6 months.
Nowhere does it mention affiliated clubs being eligible for such treatment, only FFTri. So no, being a British Triathlon member turns out not to be sufficient in this case, only membership of FFTri. Whether the BTF realises this is another matter entirely, but the team has to comply with event rules if it is to compete without worrying about unexpected expenses or entry invalidation (I know you've said that the latter is unlikely, but the former should be enough deterrant in itself).
I cannot speak for the triathlon fat buddha is entering as it is being run by a different organiser. If they have chosen to respect BTF membership as equivalent to FFTri, then I foresee no difficulties in his entry, or that of any other BTF member.
The key there is 'If you are not a licensed athlete'. When you join the BTF, you get a licence which is valid for any race run under the rules of an ITU member organisation, including FMTri & FFTri. The reason they refer to FFTri in the rules you've quoted is because if you need a day licence then it'll come from them.
It doesn't matter if the race is being run by a different organiser, if they run the event under the rules of their national ITU-affiliated organisation then a BTF licence gets you in. It's not a question of chosing to respect BTF membership, it's a condition of affiliating to the ITU.
Cheerful Dave, it would have been nice, in that case, if Monaco had done what some other triathlons (as as those quoted by fat buddha) had done and mentioned that affiliated clubs counted for the purpose - because it certainly didn't look like it before withdrawal. I suppose that's one of the things learned as a rookie - competition rule-writers don't always write what they mean.
When the OP put up the original request I read the rules on the tristar website, read the FAQ and in about 15 nanoseconds had worked out a) I wouldn't need a med cert since I am a licensed athlete with my BTF licence b) how great paying my annual membership to the BTF is for all the hassle it saves and benefits it brings both home AND abroad
In the amount of time this thread has been running you could have probably signed up with the BTF, got your membership number (they confirm on payment receipt, well did in my case anyway) and licence would probably be on the way, taking away need for medical cert as noted in the tri star rules...
.... Of course you could just continue to post random opinions against the help of seasoned international triathlon participants and BTF members
Or you could always phone the organisers or the BTF if it's still not clear
But you could also scrag your toenail and what would then happen to the other relay team members Gas?
Lots of people can always find loads of reasons not to do something.
I wonder when this bunch decided to enter this damn race ?
And still time to sort out the issues