World Triathlon Championship Titles to be decided at WTS Hamburg
ITU World Triathlon have announced that for the first time since 2008 the World Triathlon Championship titles will be decided over just one race at WTS Hamburg on September 5th.
The ITU stated that during a teleconference meeting, the World Triathlon Executive Board approved the awarding of the 2020 World Championships titles in Hamburg.
Hamburg was the only remaining WTS event on the calendar after cancellations of all other races due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
The Mixed Relay World Championships title will also be decided over the same weekend in Hamburg on September 6.
Start lists for the event are full for the male, female and Mixed Relay races and can be found here. Current World Champions Katie Zaferes (USA) and Vincent Luis (FRA) are set to start alongside double Olympic medalist Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) and multiple World Champions such as Mario Mola (ESP), Flora Duffy (BER) and Vicky Holland (GBR), among many others.
World Triathlon President and IOC member, Marisol Casado stated “Athletes, coaches, National Federations and ourselves… we all know this has been and still is a very strange year with endless challenges, and that we need to make the best decisions humanly possible in the best interest of all concerned. We know that announcing that the World Championships title will now, following the cancellation of the two events, be contested at the only event left on the calendar and that there is little advanced notice of this announcement, is far from ideal. We want to assure you that it is not just the best option but the only option we have to give our athletes the chance to compete and showcase their best at this level. I really want to thank the organisers, the German Federation and the World Triathlon staff for their commitment and efforts to make this opportunity, under challenging circumstances, possible. We appreciate their helping all the athletes and coaches travel to Germany to compete despite some travel restrictions and their setting up of an event and a course that I am sure will be magnificent”
“Sport can be a great tool on the road to recovery, we are slowly going back to this new normality, and we are doing everything we can to support the athletes, organisers, national federations and all our partners on this journey. The health and safety of all the athletes is our first priority, and keeping that in mind, we will make every effort to deliver a great event and crown the World Champions”
