The World Triathlon Executive Board has awarded the 2026 World Triathlon Multisport Championships to Abu Dhabi, UAE, while the 2027 edition will travel to Edmonton, Canada.
World Triathlon has also confirmed that the 2024 Mixed Relay Championships will be held in Hamburg during the weekend of the World Triathlon Championship Series, and has made a few additions to the 2024 racing calendar.
“We are delighted to see the continued commitment of Abu Dhabi with our sport,” said World Triathlon President and IOC member Marisol Casado.
“They have shown year after year the desire to grow triathlon and to host the world’s best athletes in a remarkable setting. After years of hosting outstanding WTCS action, it is hugely exciting to know that the Multisport World Championships will be the next top-level event to benefit from the formidable experience and dedication of Abu Dhabi as well as Edmonton.
“And just ahead of the second ever Olympic Mixed Relay at Paris 2024, we will crown the world champions in the city that has become synonymous with the format, Hamburg.”
Bill O’Regan, CEO of Modon (a UAE-based tourism & leisure specialist), said “On behalf of Modon, the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, the UAE Triathlon Federation, the Department of Culture and Tourism, and all Abu Dhabi Stakeholders, we are delighted to acknowledge that Abu Dhabi Hudayriyat Island has been awarded the 2026 World Triathlon Multisport Championship.
“This recognition acknowledges the strong relationship between Abu Dhabi and World Triathlon and it is with joy that we confirm our commitment to deliver a fantastic moment of sport along with an unforgettable experience to all athletes, participants, and fans.”
The 2027 Multisport Championships have been awarded to Edmonton. Having previously hosted the Championship Finals 2021 and 2014 and multiple editions of the Championship Series, the Canadian city has a proven record of hosting high quality events.
The World Triathlon Multisport Championships made its debut on the World Triathlon calendar in 2017 in Penticton, Canada, followed by Fyn, Denmark, in 2018, and Pontevedra, Spain, in 2019.
After the pandemic impacted the 2020 event, in 2021 the championships were divided across three different locations: Almere, The Netherlands, hosted the Long Distance and Aquabike races; while Aviles, Spain, organised the Duathlon World Championships, and El Anillo, Spain, hosted the Cross Triathlon and Aquathlon World Championships.
The 2022 World Triathlon Multisport Championships were split between two locations, with Targu Mures, Romania, hosting Duathlon, Cross Triathlon, and Cross Duathlon; ande Samorin, Slovakia, hosted the Aquathlon and the Long Distance Triathlon and Aquabike World Championships.
In 2023, the event was hosted in Ibiza, Spain, while in 2024 the multisport community will gather in August in the city of Townsville, Australia. The 2025 Multisport Championships will see world championship racing return to Pontevedra, Spain.
The Multisport World Championships brings together duathlon, cross duathlon, long-distance triathlon, long-distance aquabike, aquathlon, and cross triathlon world championship races in a week-long festival.
Over 3,000 athletes from all across the world gather at the championships for what has become in the last years one of the pinnacle events for World Triathlon.
Mixed Relay World Championships
In 2024, the Mixed Relay World Champion title will once again be up for grabs in the format’s spiritual home of Hamburg, Germany. The Mixed Relay World Championships will be held as part of the 22nd SUZUKI World Triathlon Hamburg powered by Hamburg Wasser.
While the individual races of the World Triathlon Championship Series will take place on Saturday, July 13, 2024, the mixed relay world title will be contested one day later (Sunday, July 14).
This would be the 10th time that Hamburg hosts the Mixed Relay World Championships – from 2013 to 2020 and in 2023 – underlining that the fast and furious format fits not only with the city, but also with the fans and spectators that every year turn out in large numbers.
Change of date for Valencia World Cup
World Triathlon’s Executive Board has also agreed to a change of the date of the 2024 World Triathlon Cup Valencia in Spain. Initially planned for September 21, 2024, the event will now take place one week earlier, on the weekend of September 14, 2024.
World Triathlon Para Cups
World Triathlon has also announced that four World Triathlon Para Cups have been added to the 2024 racing calendar, three of them taking place during the Paralympic qualification period.
Yenihesir, in Turkey, will welcome para triathletes from all over the world on April 20, 2024, while Vigo, Spain, hometown of para triathlon athlete Susana Rodriguez, will make its debut on the para circuit hosting a Para Triathlon Cup on June 1-2.
The para triathlon circuit will move from there to Taranto, in Italy, for the second edition of the World Triathlon Para Cup that will take place on June 8-9, 2024, still within the Paralympic qualification period.
The last addition to the para triathlon calendar is Alhandra, in Portugal, on October 12, 2024, just a week before the World Triathlon Championship Finals in Malaga, which will also award this year’s para triathlon world titles.
