The 25th edition of the most prestigious triathlon event on the calendar will take place at Hyde Park, the venue for the 2012 Olympic Games triathlon competitions. The 2013 grand final will mark the 20th anniversary of the only other time Great Britain has hosted the Triathlon World Championships, with Manchester having hosted the 1993 Championship.
The 2013 event will also comprise the World Championships in the junior and under-23 categories as well as the Paratriathlon, which will make its debut at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. “It's always very special to come back to an Olympic Games venue so we are thrilled to return to London for the ITU World Championship Grand Final in 2013,” said ITU president Marisol Casado said. “We are confident London will set a new standard for ITU's premier event.”
At its 24th annual Congress, the ITU also confirmed the dates and host cities for the 2012 ITU Triathlon World Championship Series. The eight-city global series will span four continents and include a stop in triathlon's birthplace in San Diego, USA. San Diego will be the second stop of the series after the Championship gets under way on April 14-15 in Sydney, Australia. Madrid in Spain, Kitzbuhel in Austria, the German city of Hamburg, Lausanne in Switzerland and the Japanese city of Yokohama will stage further events before the grand final takes place on October 20-22 in Auckland, New Zealand.
Casado added: “The ITU World Championship Series is the pinnacle of triathlon, which will be exemplified with the 2012 instalment of the series and a line-up of eight world-class cities. The sport and this series continue to grow every year and we expect 2012 to be the most spectacular triathlon season ever.”
