In the last 30 minutes, Europe Triathlon has reversed its stance from last night and confirmed that today’s elite European Championships will be held as a duathlon.
After heavy rainfall in the days leading up to the event in Madrid, Saturday’s age-group and Para-triathlon events were switched to the duathlon format.
On Saturday evening, Europe Triathlon communicated to the elite athletes that the event on the Sunday would remain a triathlon. However, further rainfall overnight has forced their hand. As a result of the rain, the conditions in the lake have been deemed unsafe.
The elite men and women will start at the same scheduled time as originally planned. Instead of swimming, though, the first run will take place at Casa de Campo. The bike and second run will then follow the course designed for the triathlon.
If an athlete does not have two pairs of shoes to use for the race, a system will be put in place for coaches to move shoes from T1 to T2.
This last minute change will likely throw athlete’s plans into disarray.
A number of strong swimmers in the field will view the news with despair. Meanwhile several of the faster runners will be rubbing their hands. In our preview of the women’s race, we noted that Jeanne Lehair would be a big threat for the win. Now with two runs to utilise, she has an even better chance for the gold.
By contrast, our original pick for the women’s win, Mathilde Gautier, noted on Instagram how happy she was that the swim was due to remain. Her fortunes may now change.
Beyond the racing itself, the move by Europe Triathlon has wider implications.
As an Olympic distance Continental Championships, the results in Madrid technically can count towards an athlete’s WTCS total. Although the event will offer fewer points than a WTCS race, it nonetheless could affect the outcomes of the Series. Moreover, the race was due to count towards an athlete’s Olympic qualification ranking.
Last year, for example, Leo Bergere earned 650 points for his win at the European Championships in Munich. The change will therefore affect several athletes’ hopes of rising through the Olympic rankings.
The safety of the athletes has to come first so Europe Triathlon ultimately did the right thing. However, having communicated that there would be no change the night before the race only to make a U-turn on the morning of the race, the decision may cause some disgruntlement amongst the field.
