World Triathlon has announced the rules for the first Arena Games Triathlon World Championships. The new series, which will be produced by Super League Triathlon, will feature three races: Munich (April 9), London (April 23) and Singapore (May 7).
The Munich and London races will have two heats with eight to 10 athletes racing two swim-bike-run races, with a “pursuit” start for the second race based on the times from the first. The top eight to 10 athletes from the heats will move to a final, which will be raced over three swim-bike-run stages, with the start order for the final race determined by the accumulated time from the first two stages.
The Championship Finals in Singapore will have a similar format, but will feature a two-stage repechage providing another avenue to reach the final.
The stages will consist of a 200 m swim, a 3 to 4 km bike on a virtual bike course through the Zwift platform, followed by a 1 km run on a curved treadmill, again on a virtual run course on Zwift.
Like the World Triathlon Championship Series, The Arena Games world champions will be determined by points – series winners will earn 250 points, while the championship finals winners will earn 500 points, with the points decreasing by 7.5 per cent for every position. Series events winners will receive US$5,000, with the US$7,500 going to the Championship Finals winner. The World Champions will receive US$8,000, with second earning $6,000 and $4,000 going to the third-place finisher in the series.
Athletes can qualify for the series based on World Triathlon Ranking, with national federations allowed to enter a maximum of two athletes. The host national federation from each country will be allowed to enter two athletes. An “invitation panel” made up of two representatives from World Triathlon and two from Super League Triathlon “may extend the National Federation quotas,” while national federations can also substitute one athlete per gender.
Click on the links below for more details on the Arena Games qualification criteria, rankings and prize money.
– Competition rules for the Arena Games Triathlon events – Appendix S (pages 182-195)
– Qualification Criteria for the Arena Games Triathlon
– Ranking Criteria for the Arena Games Triathlon
– Arena Games Triathlon Prize Money
