Garth Prowd, one of triathlon's most important figures, has died after a cycling accident in Spain.
Prowd was found unconscious following the road bike accident on July 22 in Barcelona, where he was having a family holiday.
The long-time Noosa triathlon race director never regained consciousness and his life support was turned off on Sunday night (AEST).
Prowd was 65.
Under Prowd, Noosa became one of the sport's biggest and most important races.
Noosa started in 1983, only five years after the sport's genesis in the United States, and Prowd joined the race organising committee two years later.
In the late 1980s, Prowd turned the triathlon into a multi-sport festival featuring swim, bike and run events.
For nearly 30 years he was managing director of USM Events, which ran the Noosa festival along with several other triathlons and other sport and lifestyle events.
He sold the company in 2009.
For three years during the 1990s, Noosa was a World Cup race and it has always attracted a strong Australian and international elite field.
But it is primarily a destination race for age groupers.
Two years ago it became the sport's biggest Olympic-distance triathlon, attracting 8000 entrants.
Prowd was awarded the Order of Australia in 2005 for his services to sport.
He is survived by his wife Robyn and children Sally, Megan and Katie.
