World Triathlon has approved the restart of the Olympic and Paralympic Qualification rankings from May 1, 2021. The Asian Championships will also be counted as an exception as it takes place prior to the date of the restart.
Concurrently, the IOC and IPC have been asked for the relevant qualification criteria to be updated. The Olympic Qualification Period will remain open until no later than 21 June, while for the Paralympics the Qualification Period will be open until 15 July.
Olympic qualification
The restart of the Olympic qualification period will mean that athletes will have the opportunities to compete in a total of six events, including World Triathlon Championship Series events in Yokohama and Leeds, and World Triathlon Cups in Osaka, Lisbon, Arzachena and Huatulco.
Racing is planned in three continents during the qualification window. Remaining Continental Championships and the Mixed Relay Olympic Qualification events are also planned to be held during the qualification period. The World Triathlon world rankings will also reopen on May 1st.
Paralympic qualification
The restart of the Paralympic qualification period will mean that athletes will have the opportunities to compete in at least four events, including World Triathlon Para Series and World Triathlon Para Cups, with racing planned on two continents during the window.
The remaining Continental Championship events are also to be held during the qualification period. The para triathlon world rankings will also be reopened on May 1st.
The qualification standings were frozen last March due to the worldwide impact of the pandemic and the subsequent travel restrictions that forced athletes around the globe to limit their training and travel. The pandemic clearly also led to many events being postponed and cancelled.
The World Triathlon events that took place at the end of the 2020 season, including the World Championships, did not count towards Olympic or Paralympic rankings.
More specific details regarding the qualification process, and the updated qualification criteria, will be communicated to all national federations in the coming days.
The World Triathlon Executive Board has also recently approved the rules for the ‘Eliminator format’, which will make its debut in the World Triathlon Championship Series this year, as well as the World Games qualification criteria.
The Board meeting approved the appointment of the new members of the World Triathlon Tribunal: Ize Matebese (NIR), Judge Jones (USA), Judge Tom O’Donnell (IRL) and Stephen Sampson (UK). The Board also approved to appoint Bela Varga (HUN) as a member of the Competition Jury for the Tokyo Olympic Games, after the resignation of one of the previously selected members.
Meanwhile, Byambaa Tsagaanbaatar (MON) has been nominated as a technical official for the Tokyo Paralympic Games, in replacement of a technical official that resigned.
In the same meeting the Board approved the World Triathlon development contracts with Americas Triathlon, Africa Triathlon and Asia Triathlon, which will grant these continents funds for development activities during the 2021 season.
