Ironman Triathlon interested participants. In 1990, with the help of Lew Friedland, Dr. James P. Gills acquired and purchased the Hawaii Triathlon Corporation, owner of the Ironman brand, for $3 million from Silk. With the Ironman brand, Gills established the World Triathlon Corporation with the intention of furthering the sport of triathlon and increasing prize money for triathletes. A number of non-WTC full distance triathlons have been held since the mid-1990s. The limited number of WTC-sanctioned events, and the limited number of entries available per race, have combined with a growth in the sport that has created demand for these non-trademarked events.
International Triathlon Union Triathlon World Championships was held giving the sport of winter triathlons its own world championship. Then in 1998 the Aquathlon World Championships were inaugurated giving aquathlon its own world championship. In 2009 the Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships was held to organise an elite level international relay. The most recently created tournament is the Cross Triathlon World Championships similar to the long distance it was created to allow the sports governing body to have a world championship instead of XTERRA Triathlon. The world championship events organised by the ITU include: International Triathlon Union The International Triathlon Union (ITU) is the