The World Triathlon Executive Board met and announced a new addition to the 2022 season – the long-distance duathlon world championship, along with an early cancellation for an upcoming World Cup race in Japan.
The 2022 World Triathlon Powerman Long Distance Duathlon Championships will be held in Zofingen, Switzerland, long the site of the world’s most prestigious long-distance duathlon race. The race includes a 10 km run, a 150 km bike and a 30 km run.
Founded in 1989, the Zofingen event has long been the Kona equivalent for long-distance duathletes. The inaugural races featured a 2.5 km run, 120 km bike and a 30.5 km run, with the first run increasing to 5 km in the second year, 7.5 km in the third year, and as far as 13.5 km by 1995. Since 2002, though, the first run has been set at 10 km.
Natascha Badmann is likely the most famous Zofingen champion – she won the race in 1996, 1997 and 2000. In 1998 Badmann became the first European woman to win the Ironman World Championship. Another Swiss star, Olivier Bernhard, won the Zofingen race a record eight times. World Triathlon held its first long-distance duathlon world championship in 1997 and the race has been held in Zofingen most years – it was held there four times between 1997 and 2008, and every year since 2011. (The 2020 event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
Miyazaki cancelled
“Due to the current situation with the COVID pandemic and travel restrictions, the Board approved the decision of Triathlon Japan of the cancelation of the World Triathlon Cup Miyazaki planned for March, 2022,” World Triathlon said on its website.
