Absolute showdown of triathlon world elite in Hamburg

The World Champions of the World Triathlon Series will also be crowned in Hamburg this year.

2020 HAMBURG WASSER World Triathlon will host both the Mixed Team World Championships and the only remaining races of the World Triathlon Series.

In a teleconference meeting on Thursday evening, the World Triathlon Executive Board approved the awarding of the 2020 World Championships titles in Hamburg, at the Hamburg Wasser World Triathlon event to be held on September 5. This decision follows the Board’s approval of the cancellation of the other two remaining events of the 2020 World Triathlon Series, the Groupe Copley World Triathlon Montreal and the MS Amlin World Triathlon Bermuda.

With Hamburg remaining as the only WTS event of the 2020 season, the decision was made to award the World Championship Titles in this race, with the Mixed Relay World Championships also taking place in Hamburg on September 6. Start lists for the event are currently full for the male, female and Mixed Relay races, with current World Champions Katie Zaferes (USA) and Vincent Luis (FRA) ready to toe the start line along with double Olympic medalist Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) and multiple World Champions such as Mario Mola (ESP), Flora Duffy (BER) or Vicky Holland (GBR), among many others. Quotas will be increased in 10 athletes per gender to allow 65 men and 65 women to compete.

“I really want to thank the organizers, the German Federation and the World Triathlon staff for their commitment and efforts to make this opportunity, under challenging circumstances, possible. We appreciate their helping all the athletes and coaches travel to Germany to compete despite some travel restrictions and their setting up of an event and a course that I am sure will be magnificent”, explained World Triathlon President and IOC member, Marisol Casado. “Sport can be a great tool on the road to recovery, we are slowly going back to this new normality, and we are doing everything we can to support the athletes, organizers, national federations and all our partners on this journey. The health and safety of all the athletes is our first priority, and keeping that in mind, we will make every effort to deliver a great event and crown the World Champions”, she said.

"The fact that the World Champions of the World Triathlon Series will also be chosen within the HAMBURG WASSER World Triathlon in addition to the Mixed Team World Championships is a great story for us as organizers and the city of Hamburg as host city. We feel with the staff of the two cancelled races, because as organizers we are all in the same boat at the moment", says Oliver Schiek, Managing Director of the IRONMAN Germany GmbH. "Despite this, or perhaps precisely because of this, we will do everything we can to offer the triathlon world a magical event that will make the hearts of all triathlon fans leap for joy, even under strictly controlled conditions. The absolute world elite of triathlon will be guests in Hamburg, and with the live broadcasts on the public channels, we will also bring the most exciting triathlon event of the year into the living rooms at home.”

Martin Engelhardt, president of the German Triathlon Federation (DTU): "This decision underlines the great confidence that the ITU has in Hamburg in the organization of these races. The reliability of the past years, especially with regard to the hosting of the Mixed Relay World Championship, will now be rewarded. I am also particularly pleased for the German athletes, because now they can fight for World Championship medals in the singles on their home ground. This was last the case in 2007, when Daniel Unger rushed to gold. A chance that not too many people get in their sporting lives.”

Photos from the HAMBURG WASSER World Triathlon 2019 are available for free use under the copyright Getty Images for IRONMAN here.

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