Para Championships added to World Triathlon Series in Abu Dhabi

The championships at Yas Island are set the draw the leading para athletes straight after their exploits at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo earlier this month. Courtesy photo

The World Triathlon Para Championships has been added to the World Triathlon Championship Series Abu Dhabi on November 4-6, Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC) announced on Tuesday.

The race format will include nine sport classes of para triathlon competing in six medal events for both men and women, with 12 world champions to be crowned at Yas Island.

Abu Dhabi will now host two consecutive World Triathlon Para Championships, with the race in 2021 also serving as a test for the 2022 World Championships that will form part of next year’s World Triathlon Championship Finals.

Alongside the Para Championships, 110 elite athletes will compete in the Triathlon Worlds in Abu Dhabi.

“We are delighted to welcome the World Triathlon Championship Series back to Abu Dhabi in 2021,” ADSC general secretary Aref Al Awani said of the championships return after the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The Para Worlds adds to that excitement. We simply could not pass on the opportunity to host some of the most inspirational elite para triathletes from around the world here, just weeks after they competed at the Tokyo Paralympics.

“The World Triathlon Abu Dhabi encompasses everything that the sports council strives to achieve – an internationally acclaimed sporting spectacle for all to enjoy, from those just starting out in triathlon up to newly crowned Olympic and Paralympic champions fresh from Tokyo.”

The two-day triathlon event will host a variety of races for amateur triathletes, including waves dedicated to athletes of determination.

Participants can choose from the Super Sprint, Sprint, and Olympic race distances – either as an individual or as part of a relay team.

In line with government guidelines and to ensure the safety of all participants, the field will be limited and the event will host races for athletes aged 18 years and over only. The junior races are expected to return in 2022.

The World Triathlon Championship Series Abu Dhabi will mark the second stop of the World Triathlon Championship Series in 2022, a season that will finish with Abu Dhabi hosting the best triathletes of the world in November 2022 for the World Triathlon Championship Finals.

“We are absolutely delighted and grateful to our friends in Abu Dhabi who have stepped up to organize the Para Triathlon World Championships after Italy were unable to host,” the World Triathlon president and IOC member Marisol Casado added.

“I know that the last year-and-a-half has been a difficult time for all para triathletes, so bringing them the opportunity of competing at the highest level and for the world titles is great news.”