Races going ahead like planned would usually not be considered “news”, but with Xterra confirming to have received the “green light” for the World Championship in December 2021, it seems like the island is moving in the right direction for welcoming athletes again, also for the Ironman World Championship in 2022.
The last time that athletes got to visit the magical triathlon island for the pinnacle race in long-distance triathlon was October 2019. After the race was postponed a few times, last month, Ironman announced that – for the first time in the long history of triathlon – the race would take place outside Hawaii. The World Champion will be decided on in St. George in May 2022. A few months later, in October, as usual, the triathlon scene would then move back to Hawaii.
That Ironman’s World Championship is in rough water has everything to do with the COVID-19 situation on Hawaii and the strict travel restrictions. In August the biggest wave thus far reached a peak. Even in comparison with the hardest month in 2020, when the pandemic had just hit, the cases had tripled. Fortunately, a strict lockdown from mid-August until October saw a decline in positive tests.
“The Xterra Trail Run and Xterra World Championship off-road triathlon races have received the green light from Maui County to proceed as planned on December 4-5, 2021, at the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua on Maui,” Xterra stated in a press release. Participants are expected to show a proof of vaccination or to show a negative COVID-19 test every 72 hours.
