The World Triathlon Executive Board has approved some significant updates in the 2021 calendar, after receiving requests from local organisers and various national federations.
Due to the ongoing restrictions related with the pandemic, the 2021 World Triathlon Championship Series Hamburg cannot take place as planned in July. Also, the World Triathlon Age-Group Championship races will not be held this August 17-22 as part of the 2021 World Triathlon Championship Finals Edmonton.
For the 2021 World Triathlon Multisport Championships in Almere, only the Long Distance and Aquabike World Championships will take place this September.
2021 World Triathlon Championship Series Hamburg
While the organising committee, the Deutschland Triathlon Union (DTU) and World Triathlon had continued preparations for the 2021 World Triathlon Championship Series Hamburg, after evaluating the continued status of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany with local authorities and the resulting restrictions in place, the event is now not going ahead on July 10-11, 2021.
‘The organisers and DTU are working with the city of Hamburg to secure a new race date in the year, working with World Triathlon on refining operational plans in a manner consistent with local community objectives and within the guidelines and recommendations set by public health entities as it relates to COVID-19.’
In a release, World Triathlon added… ‘We want to express our gratitude to the athletes and the whole triathlon community, sponsors, broadcasters and fans for their continued understanding and look forward to returning with a great event later this year.’
2021 World Triathlon Championship Finals Edmonton
World Triathlon Series Edmonton, in partnership with World Triathlon and Triathlon Canada, regret to inform that the Age-Group Championship races will not be held this August 17-22 as part of the 2021 World Triathlon Championship Finals Edmonton.
The unfortunate decision has been taken due to COVID-19 and the related international travel restrictions, that will make it impossible for most of the age-group athletes to travel to Canada this summer.
‘With the health and safety of our athletes and community as top priority, government officials and public health authorities are unable to grant travel exemptions to international age-group athletes, including vaccinated travellers at this time. And while we hoped the COVID-19 situation regarding international travel would have improved over the past few months, unfortunately this has not been the case.
‘We understand the hard-work and dedication it takes to qualify and prepare for the World Championships. The organising committee has been working tirelessly to make everything possible in order to welcome the 3,000+ international age-group athletes in Edmonton this summer in what was planned to a “’Best Ever’ Age-Group Championships.’
While the World Triathlon Age-Group Championships will now not take place in Edmonton, World Triathlon is working with different organisers and national federations to try to find an alternate location for these races later in the year.
The elite races and the U23 races at the 2021 World Triathlon Championship Finals Edmonton will take place as planned.
2021 World Triathlon Multisport Championships Almere-Amsterdam
After extensive consultation with World Triathlon and all other involved parties, it was decided that the 2021 World Triathlon Multisport Championships Almere-Amsterdam will take place in an adjusted way.
The World Triathlon Long Distance Championship and the World Triathlon Aquabike Championship will continue to take place on Sunday, September 12. Although, no other World Triathlon Championships will be organized in Almere in 2021.
This means the World Triathlon Sprint Duathlon Championship, the World Triathlon Standard Duathlon Championship, the World Triathlon Cross Triathlon Championship and the World Triathlon Aquathlon Championship will not be held in Almere this year.
Almere will no longer run over two weeks. There will instead be ‘only’ four days dedicated to the 2021 World Triathlon Multisport Championships Almere-Amsterdam.
“Of course this is a very difficult decision, but at the same time the only right decision we can make,” explained Race Director Richard Belderok.
The World Triathlon Long-Distance Championship and the World Triathlon Aquabike Championship can go ahead as planned, both for elite and age-group athletes.
Belderok added, “In addition, our Challenge Almere-Amsterdam side events will remain on our program.” This includes the Junior Challenge (September 9), Rabo Business & Family Relay (September 9), the Open Series Middle Distance (September 10) and the Senior & No-Limit Challenge (September 10).
