2020 ITU World Triathlon Series

The 2020 ITU World Triathlon Series was planned to visit eight cities, including Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics.[1]

Events

Date	Location	Status
March 7-8	Abu Dhabi	Cancelled
April 18-19	Bermuda	Cancelled
May 16-17	Yokohama	Cancelled
June 6-7	Leeds	Cancelled
June 27-28	Montreal	Cancelled
July 11-12	Hamburg	Postponed to September 5-6
July 27-28	Tokyo	Olympics, Postponed to July 26-27, 2021
August 22-23	Edmonton	Grand Final, Cancelled

Mixed Relays

Date	Location	Status
March 8	Abu Dhabi	Cancelled
May 10	Chengdu	Olympic Qualification Event, Cancelled
July 12	Hamburg	World Championships, Postponed to September 6
August 1	Tokyo	Olympics, Postponed to July 31, 2021
August 23	Edmonton	Cancelled

Due to the growing uncertainty of COVID-19, ITU announced on February 26 that the Mixed Relay Olympic Qualification Event, which was originally set to be held in Chengdu, would be moved to Valencia.[4] 3 days later, ITU postponed the World Triathlon events in Abu Dhabi indefinitely, with hopes of finding a new date in late March or April.[5]

On March 14, 2020, ITU made the decision to suspend all activities until April 30, thus suspending all competitions, courses, camps and other events. All World and Olympic Qualification Rankings were frozen effective March 16th. In the official announcement, ITU president Marisol Casado stated:

This is a decision that is hard to take, and you can have my word that we are taking it with the health and safety of athletes, coaches, officials, facilitators, staff, volunteers and spectators, all the triathlon family, as the top priority. We are taking this decision convinced that we all have to take our part to prevent and stop the spread of the virus. It is our responsibility, as a society. And having our athletes, coaches, officials and staff travelling around the world at this challenging time is not something that we in World Triathlon are willing to risk.[6]

Following the postponement of several races, including multiple World Triathlon events and the Olympic Games, ITU made the decision on April 3 to extend its suspension of activities until June 30.[7] As the pandemic progressed, an increasing number events went from postponements to cancellations, thus shortening the 2020 World Triathlon Season. On August 25, ITU announced that the 2020 World Triathlon Champions would be determined at the Hamburg World Triathlon Event, which was set to take place on September 5 after being postponed from July 11. In addition to hosting the sole World Triathlon Series event, Hamburg was set to host the World Triathlon Mixed Relay Championship on September 6.