We Are Triathletes Documentary Wins Award in Accolade Global Film Competition

We Are Triathletes, a feature-length documentary on the sport of triathlon, has won a prestigious Award of Excellence from The Accolade Global Film Competition. The award was given for its exceptional storyline featuring 6 long distance triathletes including 3-time Ironman World Champion and 2014 Challenge Roth Champion Mirinda Cafrae, 8-time Ironman Champion Luke McKenzie, double above-knee amputee athlete/ 4-time Paralympian and Gold Medalist Rudy Garcia-Tolson, as well as Challenge Roth’s race director Felix Walchshofer.

The film is executive produced by Ironman and USA Triathlon Hall of Fame inductee, co-founder of Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), Bob Babbitt and is co-produced by Gwendolen Twist who produced the award-winning documentaries Spirit of the Marathon and Spirit of the Marathon II.

Director and Producer Yanfeng (Yan) Zhang aims to inspire the broader audience with this documentary. “This is the first-ever feature-length documentary on the sport of triathlon for the big screen. We really want to showcase the spirit of this endurance sport to the world and hope more and more people will participate in it.”

“I think this film stands on its own as a tribute to the sport of triathlon and triathletes,” says Executive Producer Bob Babbitt. “We are showcasing Challenge Roth, an event that is actually way better on the big screen because the team can and did capture the crowds, the excitement, solar hill and the pageantry. What makes Ironman World Championship so challenging – the heat and the wind – is hard to capture on film.”

On June 13th, a special screening will be held at the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) in San Diego, California, the birthplace of modern time triathlon. Another exclusive opportunity to watch We Are Triathletes will be during the festival week of DATEV CHALLENGEROTH on June 28th. The official global release in theatres will follow in early August through Demand Film. “We are thrilled to be working with Yan and Bob to bring this fantastic film to enthusiastic audiences around the world”, says Andrew Hazelton, Executive Vice President of Demand Film.

In winning an Accolade, We Are Triathletes joins the ranks of other high-profile winners of this internationally respected award including the Oscar-winning production of The Lady in Number Six by Malcolm Clarke, the very talented Dave Bossert of Disney for his short documentary, The Tunes Behind The Toons, Hollywood industry veteran Ron Howard for When You Find Me and Highwire Films Australia for their popular ABC TV series twentysomething. Rick Prickett, who chairs The Accolade Global Film Competition, had this to say about the latest winners, “The Accolade is not an easy award to win. Entries are received from around the world from powerhouse companies to remarkable new talent. The Accolade helps set the standard for craft and creativity. The judges were pleased with the exceptionally high quality of entries. The goal of The Accolade is to help winners achieve the recognition they deserve.”