Beijing hosted the 2008 Olympics and it will welcome triathlon back later this year with a World Cup event on 17 October.

The gold medals in 2008 went to Jan Frodeno and Emma Snowsill while it was also the moment that Alistair Brownlee, who would become the only person to win back-to-back Olympic titles, really announced himself to the world.

The Chinese capital would subsequently host the WTCS Grand Final in 2011.

Big return to Asia

World Triathlon has now announced it as one of two significant additions to the 2026 World Triathlon Cup calendar, following approval by the World Triathlon Executive Board.

The other is that the Hong Kong World Triathlon Cup, scheduled for 7–8 November, will expand its programme with the addition of a Mixed Relay Cup event.

And the sport’s governing body have also said that they are: “Working closely with the Abu Dhabi World Triathlon Series Local Organising Committee to explore options to reschedule the WTCS Abu Dhabi events, which were postponed due to the current situation in the Middle East. Further information will be communicated as soon as it becomes available.”

All of which now means the current upcoming 2026 calendars look as follows:

2026 WTCS races

Date	Event
25 April	Samarkand, UZB
16 May	Yokohama, JPN
30 May	Alghero, ITA
20 June	Quiberon, FRA
11 July	Hamburg, GER
25 July	London, GBR
29 August	Weihai, CHN
13 September	Karlovy Vary, CZE
24–27 September	Pontevedra, ESP

2026 World Cup races

Date	Event
9 May	Chengdu, CHN
14 June	Huatulco, MEX
27–28 June	Tiszaujvaros, HUN
18 July	Edmonton, CAN
1–2 August	Rio de Janeiro, BRA
8–9 August	Asuncion, PAR
22–23 August	Lima, PER
3 October	Rome, ITA
17 October	Beijing, CHN
24–25 October	Tongyeong, KOR
31 October	Iquique, CHI
7–8 November	San Pedro de la Paz, CHI
7 November	Hong Kong, HKG
14–15 November	Miyazaki, JPN
21 November	Tauranga, NZL
28–29 November	Jeddah, KSA
5–6 December	Dubai, UAE — Women’s Cup