World Triathlon

World Triathlon Executive Board met for two days in a hybrid format -some members attending virtually, some members physically in Madrid- to set up the base of the 2022 season, from the calendar to the strategic plan, reviewing the situation of sponsorhips, tv & digital reports, financial statements and staff issues. 

Even though many LOCs are still confirming their plans for the 2022 season, the Board approved to include already in the calendar the Para Cup in Alanya, and to add the Duathlon Cross to the Multisport Festival programme as an official World Championships discipline, starting at the recently announced World Championships in Targu Mures 2022. More events will be announced in the next couple of weeks, to finalise the 2022 calendar.

World Triathlon’s Board approved a comprehensive review of the rules that will be implemented from January 1, 2022. Among the new rules approved, there will be increased penalties for swim behaviour and wetsuits limits are set higher for 60 years and older athletes. Clip ons on draft legal races are to be forbidden from 2023 and some cycling positions with immediate effect.

One of the most impactful rule changes affects the Mixed Relay, which now will be done in the order man – woman – man – woman, till the end of 2024 to be applicable on all levels of events. Regarding the Rankings, some modifications have been approved to award more points to regional and continental events.

The Executive Board also approved to propose the International Olympic Committee the Olympic Qualification for Paris 2024 to start on May 27, 2022 and will finish on May 27, 2024. The number of events counting for the Olympic Ranking on each period, as well as the full Qualification Criteria, will be approved and announced at a later stage, after the approval from the International Olympic Committee.

The complete set of rules for the Arena Games will also be reviewed and approved in the upcoming weeks. The review of the rules has been done by the Technical Committee, with inputs from Continental Confederations, National Federations, Technical Officials and various committees, including Coaches Committee, Athletes Committee, Legal & Constitution Committee, Para triathlon Committee, Medical & Anti-Doping Committee, Multisport Committee and Age-Group Commission.

The Executive Board worked and reviewed the new Strategic Plan, that will be finalized in the next weeks in order to be implemented from the beginning of the year. They also approved the new members of the Sustainability Commission and replaced one member of the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Commission.

The five Continental Presidents made a presentation to explain in detail their development actions planned for the next season utilizing the allocated funds from World Triathlon.