The ITU (International Triathlon Union) World Championships is the penultimate stop of the elite Olympic-distance triathlon circuit. Elite triathletes have been racing across the globe since March at various World Cup events, and have gone through their country’s selection policies in order gain a shot at the world title. This year the Triathlon World Championships are held in Cozumel Mexico, quite the place to begin the off season!
Triathlon World Championships Race Categories
The Triathlon World Championships consists of 3 different categories for the men and women.
– Junior: Athletes are under the age of 18 and the course is a Sprint-distance, or half the distance of that of the elites.
– U23: Athletes need to be under the age of 23 and the course is the full Olympic-distance.
– Elite: Athletes generally have gone through the U23 and or Junior categories and have progressed to race at the elite level.
Triathlon World Championships Race Distances and Courses
The Triathlon World Championship consists of 2 race distances: the Sprint-distance and the Olympic-distance.
Sprint
-Swim: 750m or 0.4miles
-Bike: 20km or 12.5miles
-Run: 5km or 3.1 miles
The sprint event is raced by both the elite Junior Men and Women. The race is draft-legal on the bike, so athletes ride in packs to try and save as much energy as they can for the run. The entire race takes anywhere from 55-65 minutes depending on the course and race conditions.
Olympic
-Swim: 1500m or 0.9miles
-Bike: 40km or 25miles
-Run: 10km or 6miles
The Olympic-distance is raced by both the U23 and Elite categories. The race is double that of the Sprint and both consist of loops on the bike and run making them spectator friendly!
Triathlon Races and Points
The triathlon season begins in March and runs into October. Races span across the globe touching down in places such as the UAE, Australia, Germany, England, Sweden, Japan, Canada, USA, and Mexico. Each year the race calendar varies slightly in the location of the races, as well as the grand finale with the purpose being to spread triathlon across the world and allowing greater opportunity for more people to race. There are 3 main tiers of races:
–WTS (World Triathlon Series) 750 points per win
–World Cups 500 points per win
–Continental Cups 400 points per win
–Winning the World Championship Race 1000 points
The points breakdown descend after 1st place, however an athlete can gain more points finishing in the top 5 in a WTS than winning a World Cup.
The caliber of the field as well as the points at stake at each race is the highest in the WTS events and the lowest at the Continental Cups. So an athlete can navigate a race schedule to include a variety of races and the opportunity to snag extra points. The world championship crown is the result of consistent race results.
Worlds Selection
Countries will send anywhere from 1-6 athletes to a Triathlon World Championship depending on each athlete’s current health and fitness, his or her world ranking, as well as the budget each country has to work with.
World Triathlon Age-Group Racing
Along with the select group of elites racing for the world title, there are thousands of age-group triathletes who will also be toeing the line in Cozumel this weekend. Each and every one of them has qualified at their country’s national championship, or has filled the requirements at other races outlined by their nation. The Age-Group race differs from the Elite races in several ways:
-No drafting is allowed on the bike
-The races go off in waves as per each individual age-group
-Race categories are in 5 year increments
-The bike and run course can be slightly less technical to avoid crashes since there are more athletes on the course at once.
After 7 months of racing, the best triathletes from around the globe are all poised for the Triathlon World Championships. The world rankings for both the top elite men and women are very close this year, so it will come down to who can back up a long season with a spectacular finish.
The Elite Women will be racing Saturday, September 17th, 2016 while the Elite Men will be racing the following day. You can watch both events live here.
