World Triathlon provides the following clarification regarding the rules applicable to running shoes and the related procedures at events.

World Triathlon Technical Officials are responsible for enforcing the World Triathlon Competition Rules at T100 events, in close collaboration with the PTO team.

World Triathlon adheres to the World Athletics regulations concerning the types of shoes permitted for use during competitions.

According to the Competition Rules (Section 6.4.e), Development shoes may be used at T100 events.

Athletes may be subject to random shoe inspections before, during, or after a competition. If a shoe cannot be immediately identified, all relevant information - and possibly the shoe itself - must be sent to World Triathlon headquarters for verification within seven (7) days after the competition in which it was used.

Additionally, the Competition Rules (Section 12) state that a protest regarding equipment used by an athlete can be submitted to the Head Referee by the athlete or an accredited representative of their National Federation within five (5) minutes of the later of:

• The protester’s finish time, or

• The protestee’s finish time.

A completed protest form, as outlined in Rule 12.5, must then be submitted to the Head Referee within a further fifteen (15) minutes.

The Development version of the Asics Metaspeed Ray worn by athletes during the T100 London event were on the list of Development shoes of World Athletics.

At the T100 French Riviera event, the Asics Metaspeed Ray was worn in violation of the rules, as the shoe had not been on the market for the required minimum of one month according to the list of World Athletics. In this case, the athlete’s shoes were not specifically checked by the Technical Officials due to an oversight of some of the procedures at the event. As the protest deadlines have passed, World Triathlon is not in a position to open an investigation. (The 7-day deadline in section 6.4 refers to cases opened before, during, or after the competition, but within the protest timelines.)

Section 12.10 of the Competition Rules doesn’t allow the World Triathlon Technical Committee to open a protest procedure regarding “Equipment used by an Athlete”.

World Triathlon and PTO will work closely together in the future to prevent such oversights, especially in relation to non-Field of Play officiating matters.