Spain steps in to host the Aquathlon World Championships
El Anillo de Extremadura in Spain has been chosen as the new venue for this year’s World Triathlon Aquathlon World Championships which is also hosting the World Triathlon Cross Championships on the same weekend.
The World Triathlon Executive Board has approved Spain as the host of the event, scheduled to be held on October 30 and 31, after Almere in The Netherlands withdrew its hosting rights of both events due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Both events have been part of World Triathlon’s multisport festival for the past five years and was set to be held in Almere in 2021. But, due to travel restrictions in The Netherlands, only the long distance and aqua-bike events will take place in the Dutch city.
Last month the World Triathlon Duathlon Championships, due to be held on November 6 and 7, will also go ahead in Spain after it was moved from Almere to Aviles due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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The Spanish complex of El Anillo, in Extremadura (Spain) will host the 2021 World Triathlon Aquathlon World Championships in October, along with the World Triathlon Cross Triathlon World Championships that will take place the same weekend in the same location. World Champions in all categories, including age-group events, will be crowned on 30-31 October.
The World Triathlon Aquathlon Championships and the World Triathlon Cross Championship have been part of the World Triathlon Multisport Festival for the past five years and were planned to take place in Almere this year but, due to the current travel restrictions in the Netherlands, the organisers were only able to go ahead with the Long Distance and Aquabike events.
With the 2021 World Triathlon Duathlon World Championships taking place also in Spain, in Aviles, the following week (6-7 November), it offers a great opportunity for elite and age-group athletes to compete at three world championship events fewer than 10 days apart all within the same country.
“It is fantastic news that the Aquathlon World Championships will also be held in Extremadura as it adds to the true spirit of these competitions: the concept of the Multisport Championship Festival. Having three World Championships in Spain in two weeks brings a great opportunity to athletes from all around the world to discover these two regions of Spain, Extremadura and Aviles, with multiple options for easily connecting both cities”, explained World Triathlon President and IOC Member, Marisol Casado.
The events in El Anillo of Extremadura, which will also host the Spanish Multisport Championships that same weekend, will bring together more than 1500 participants, with Elite, Junior and Age-Group competitions taking place in both Cross Triathlon and Aquathlon.
The waters of Gabriel y Galán reservoir will be the perfect scenario for the swimming sections of both events, with the running and cycling paths of El Anillo and its surroundings providing a great course for the running and cycling segments.
World Triathlon wants to thank the organisers and the Spanish Triathlon Federation for being able to step up once again and put in place another world-class event in such a short period of time after Almere announced that they could not host the Aquathlon, Duathlon and Cross Triathlon World Championships this year.
All of the events will be run under strict COVD guidelines approved by the Spanish Federation and World Triathlon, and more details of the calendar, distances and registration process will be announced in the next weeks.
