ITU is pleased to announce that it has opened the bidding process for the 2022 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final and Age Group World Championships, as well as for the 2022 ITU World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships. Interested cities on any of the two major events will have to submit their bids, or letters with their expression of interest, before August 15.
“It really is an honor for us to open this process so that we can announce at the same time the 2021 and the 2022 finals, and we are ready to welcome more cities into our circuit”, said ITU president and IOC member, Marisol Casado. “We are receiving lots of expressions of interest from cities across the world, which proves that our sport is continuing to grow. The World Triathlon Grand Final & Sprint and Relay Championships give us the opportunity to keep adding iconic cities for our athletes to shine in”, she said.
The World Triathlon Grand Final and Age Group World Championships is the crown jewel of the annual calendar, with this years event taking place on the Gold Coast (Australia), followed by Lausanne (Switzerland) in 2019 and Edmonton (Canada) in 2020.
The ITU World Triathlon Grand Final brings together athletes of all levels, from future stars and Olympic medallists to all abilities in the mass participation market. In 2022, the Grand Final will be the home of not only the Elite Men’s and Women’s Olympic distance races but also the Paratriathlon World Championships, the U23 Women, and Men and the Age Group Standard distance event. A new addition to the program will be the Age Group Super-Sprint World Championships.
The Grand Final is the most prestigious race on the ITU event calendar each year, creating an immediate economic impact by bringing in a significant number of international tourists to each host city, including more than 5,000 competitors, support teams, officials, family, and friends. With the addition of local races, the number of competitors alone can exceed 10,000 people. The Grand Final host city will also welcome the annual ITU Congress, with delegates from up to 160 countries making the key decisions on the sporting future of the International Federation.
The successful city can expect to attract an audience of millions of viewers from around the world. This includes international TV distribution for both live TV and a customised 48-minute highlight show as well as international news distribution, internet TV and international print media coverage.
The ITU Triathlon World Championships were first held in Avignon, France in 1989. In 2009, the championships were revamped, expanding the single-day World Championship race into an exciting multi-city global series that culminates with the ITU Triathlon World Championship Grand Final. Athletes earn points throughout the season, with those who finish top in the overall series crowned the ITU Elite Triathlon World Champion.
Download here the Bid documents for the 2022 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final
ITU World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships
From 2021, ITU will introduce a new event with both Elite and Age Group categories and is now time to receive bids for the second edition of this prestigious event. The ITU World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships will feature super-sprint World Championships for Elite athletes, Sprint World Championships for Age-Group and Junior athletes and Mixed Relay World Championships events in all categories, including Age-Groupers.
Host cities, with the endorsement of their respective National Federation, can bid for this event that can bring over 4,000 competitors, support teams, officials, family and Friends to a city. With the addition of local races, the number of competitors can exceed 8,000.
Host cities have a unique opportunity to host a World Triathlon event on a multi-year basis. This long-term approach brings major benefits, including the greater potential to attract sponsors, increased athlete, and spectator participation, improved organisational structure, greater media profile, a more engaged community and the opportunity for creating local and national health initiatives.
Cities interested in hosting either the 2022 Grand Final or the 2022 Sprint and Mixed Relay World Championship must send the Bid documents, or letters with their expression of interest, before August 15. The election and announcement of the host cities for each event will take place during the 2018 ITU Grand Final in Gold Coast, on 11 September 2018.
Download here the Bid Documents for the ITU World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships