The World Triathlon Championship Series is the annual series of races used to crown an annual world champion. There are multiple rounds of races culminating in a Grand Final race, to cap the season. Athletes compete head-to-head for points in these races that will determine the overall world champion. The elite championship races are held over two distances: the standard and the sprint distance.
Prior to 2009, the world champion was formerly crowned in the ITU Triathlon World Championship, a single championship race that was held annually from 1989, the same year as the formation of the International Triathlon Union (ITU), to 2008.
In 2008, the day after the 2008 Men’s Olympic triathlon race, the ITU announced starting next year it would be replacing the single race world championship with a six-race World Championship points super series culminating in a Grand Final, it was to be called the World Championship Series.
