World Triathlon announced today that the WTCS Abu Dhabi event – scheduled for March 28 and 29 – will not take place as planned and has been postponed to a later date yet to be determined. The decision is directly related to the war in Iran, the dangerous situation in the Middle East, and travel restrictions and closed airspace in several countries.
While it is understandable that World Triathlon has decided to postpone the race, the move is also somewhat surprising. Earlier this week, the federation stated that it saw no reason to remove the event from the calendar and planned to provide another update next week. Apparently, the situation has since prompted the organization to act sooner and move the race.
The Age Group races in Abu Dhabi will still go ahead as scheduled. Only the elite individual races, the Para Triathlon Cup, and the elite Mixed Team Relay have been postponed.
The World Triathlon Championship Series will now begin on April 26 in Samarkand. If Abu Dhabi is rescheduled to take place before the Grand Final, the overall ranking will consist of five rounds plus the final. If the race is moved to a date after the Grand Final, the standings will be determined based on four races plus the final, World Triathlon explained.
