World Triathlon confirmed earlier today that there will be several changes to the World Cup calendar in 2023.
Foremost amongst those changes was the announcement of a new World Cup race to be held in Tangier, Morocco.
The racing will take place over the Sprint distance and the event is slated to take place on 1 October. The Tangier World Cup will be a watershed moment for the sport. Notably, it will mark the first African World Cup since 2019 and will represent the first time a race of this level has been held on the continent outside of South Africa.
Previously we have noted how Morocco would be an ideal location to host a World Cup. The move is therefore a positive step forward in World Triathlon’s plans to grow the sport.
Alongside the news of the Tangier race, Weihai will be returning to the World Cup circuit. Between 2017 and 2019, Weihai hosted three World Cups so its return will be a familiar one for many athletes.
Last weekend international triathlon returned to mainland China for the first time since the pandemic with the Dexing Asia Cup. The Weihai event will be over the Olympic distance and has been pencilled in for the weekend of 26/27 August.
Weihai will be taking the slot vacated by Bergen after the race originally planned was cancelled. A second World Cup in China is also due to take place in Chengdu on 14 October.
With two World Cups in China coming up, World Triathlon are clearly focused on extending the reach of the sport into that vital market.
In addition, the World Cup in Yeongdo, South Korea, that was originally scheduled for the start of May will now take place on 5/6 August. The original intention was to hold the event on consecutive weekends with Weihai however a solution could not be found. As a result, the two events will bookend the Paris Olympic Test Event in August.
With the Olympic Test Event being pivotal to most countries’ Olympic selection policies, the likelihood is most athletes will prioritise the Paris race. For athletes based outside of Asia, making two intercontinental trips in the same month could prove too great a logistical challenge.
