Earlier today, World Triathlon confirmed that the 2024 WTCS season will see a series of major changes before it gets under way in Yokohama next month.
The first major item is that WTCS Montreal, originally due to take place in September, has been cancelled. Delays in funding approvals for the local organising committee have been raised as a cause of the switch. The cancellation of Montreal is particularly ill-timed as it comes on the back of the abandonment of WTCS Abu Dhabi in March. As such, two of the six races that were on the Series calendar at the start of the year have now been lost.
In addition, Montreal has been a regular location on the WTCS circuit since 2017. When coupled with the disappearance of WTCS Edmonton since 2021, the short term picture of elite triathlon in Canada is of increasing concern. It must also be noted that Britain is not hosting a WTCS race for the first time since 2012 this year (2012 was a fallow year due to the London Olympic Games). With previous stalwarts of the circuit slipping away, the race to find future hosts may become more tense.
After the cancellation of WTCS Abu Dhabi and the persistent fears over the water quality at the Paris Olympics (and the risk of a duathlon), the shortened WTCS season could be a further sign of a difficult year for the sport.
Nevertheless, the 2024 season has at least been salvaged.
In place of Montreal, the World Cup in Weihai has been converted into a WTCS event. Taking place two weeks after the planned Montreal race (on 28/29 September), Weihai will represent the first time China has hosted a Series stop since welcoming the WTCS Final in Beijing in 2011.
Weihai will offer an Olympic distance event, the same as Yokohama, Cagliari and the Final in Torremolinos-Andalucia (Malaga). As things stand, WTCS Hamburg will be the only Sprint distance event on the schedule.
With five WTCS races now on offer, it has also been confirmed that the Paris Olympic Games will count towards an athlete’s final WTCS score. As is usually the case, Continental Championships over the Olympic distance can also be used, although such events generally count for fewer points.
In light of the reduced race load, athletes will only need three scores taken across the four regular season WTCS events, Paris Olympics and Continental Championships. Thereafter, results at the WTCS Final will be added to give athletes a total of four scores, with which the world champion will be determined.
The inclusion of three counting scores is a reduction by one race from the 2023 Series (in which athletes needed four scores before the Final). The inclusion of the Paris Olympics also harks back to the pandemic-hit 2021 season in which the same decision was made. Considering athletes now only need three scores this year, the winners in Paris will almost certainly become favourites to win the world title.
Altogether, then, it has been a particularly dramatic morning for the WTCS.
