World Triathlon have confirmed that Wollongong, Australia, will play host to the World Triathlon Championship Series Finals in 2025.
After being held in Spain for consecutive years (in Pontevedra in 2023 and Malaga in 2024), the Finals will return to the southern hemisphere for the first time since 2018 when they were held in Gold Coast, Australia. In 2018, Gold Coast also hosted the Commonwealth Games.
In Wollongong, the 2025 world champions in the Senior, U23, Junior and Para-triathlon categories will all be named. This follows the pattern of the 2024 Finals in which the Junior competitions were reincorporated into the biggest event of the season. In addition, Wollongong will host the Mixed Team Relay World Championships in the U23/Junior category and the equivalent Para-triathlon event. A variety of age-group races will also be on offer.
Wollongong will have the chance to prepare for its hosting duties as it takes on a World Cup event this year. The World Cup is slated to take place in April. Moreover, as part of the agreement with World Triathlon, Wollongong will host a further event in the 2026 season. Whether this will be in the form of a World Cup or WTCS stop remains to be seen.
Wollongong thus will become the third southern hemisphere host of a WTCS Final (after Auckland and Gold Coast) and the fifth host of a WTCS race (Sydney and Cape Town have also hosted WTCS races in years gone by).
In the form of Matthew Hauser, Australia will likely have a home contender for a world title which could provide an ideal boost to the sport in the country. In the longer term, Australia can look ahead to welcoming the world to the Brisbane Olympic Games in 2032. Being seven years earlier, perhaps Wollongong will inspire a new generation of triathletes in time to make their mark in Brisbane.
