The highest-tier of World Triathlon short course racing will return to the UK in 2026 after a three-year absence.
London, Leeds and finally Sunderland famously hosted what are now branded as WTCS (World Triathlon Championship Series) events until 2023.
But British Triathlon decided not to bid from 2024 onwards, citing the costs of putting such events on as the primary reason.
Britain’s Paris Olympic gold medallist Alex Yee won the WTCS world title last year – and for the women Beth Potter has a fantastic chance of adding the 2025 crown to her 2023 title in the Grand Final in Wollongong, Australia this weekend.
No London T100 pro race in 2026
So it’s perfectly-timed news from the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) and World Triathlon who have announced that the WTCS will return to London in 2026 at the London T100 Triathlon weekend.
The new London WTCS race has secured National Lottery funding from UK Sport, in partnership with British Triathlon, and will return to the capital for the first time since 2015 and take place on 25-26 July, 2026.
Based at the Excel Centre, the event will be delivered by the PTO and London Marathon Events as part of its successful London T100 Triathlon weekend, which this year saw almost 6,000 amateur participants take part, including a number of famous sports persons and celebrities such as Adam Peaty, Billy Monger and Gordon Ramsay and his family.
The PTO and World Triathlon have decided to switch out the professional T100km distance races for 2026 – won this summer by British star Lucy Charles-Barclay and New Zealand’s 2024 Olympics silver medallist Hayden Wilde – for the shorter WTCS format. Though the amateur part of the weekend will continue to feature the PTO’s signature 100km triathlon (2km swim, 80km bike, 18km run) as well as Olympic, Sprint and Relay options.
In terms of whether the T100 pro race could return for 2027, alongside the WTCS event, a PTO spokesperson told us: “We would love to see a scenario where we can have both pro T100 and the World Triathlon Championship Series races in London, but we want to be pragmatic and respectful of road closures and the impact on the city.
“So we’ve made a decision to prioritise WTCS primarily because of the lead-in to LA28 and with Alex Yee as the Olympic champion and a strong British Olympic triathlon team in general, we think it’s the best way to grow the sport in the UK.”
Best of British
Meanwhile the PTO’s CEO Sam Renouf said of the news: “Bringing a WTCS race back to London is significant news for our sport and allows triathlon to continue to build on the British team’s fantastic Olympic performances in Paris last year.
“You only need to look at what individual men’s winner Alex Yee has done this year competing in the London Marathon to know how important sport in the capital is to him.
“This announcement is also another great demonstration of our collaboration with World Triathlon, who we have a 12-year strategic partnership with to grow the sport. As well as a good example of local partnership with British Triathlon, who we’ll work with to market to grassroots and new audiences as well as drive legacy beyond the event.”
‘The London Marathon of triathlon’
The PTO’s long term agreement with World Triathlon was announced in October 2024 and runs until 2036. It includes a framework for both parties to explore new opportunities to grow the sport together, including hosting shorter-distance events alongside the T100 Tour; and has already seen them pilot a T1 Indoor World Cup in France earlier this year and host WTCS races alongside T100 races in France over the summer and in Wollongong this weekend.
“We are delighted to be working with the PTO and World Triathlon to bring the World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS) to London,” added Hugh Brasher, the CEO of London Marathon Events, who have worked with the PTO on the London T100 Triathlon weekend since 2024.
“At London Marathon Events, we are focused on inspiring more people to be active and moments like Alex [Yee], Beth [Potter], Georgia [Taylor-Brown], Kate [Waugh] and Sam’s [Dickinson] incredible performances in triathlon events at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024 help us to do that.
“So it’s great to welcome the WTCS into the London T100 Triathlon weekend alongside the thousands of everyday participants who will be taking part in what is fast becoming the London Marathon of the triathlon calendar.”
‘Fast and furious’
World Triathlon President, Antonio F. Arimany said: “What is interesting about this announcement is our ability to work with the PTO on different distances of professional triathlon to match different opportunities.
“WTCS races are fast and furious and take place over a much shorter distance than the T100 professional races, which works well with the length of the current road permits in London. Following the successes of our partnership with the PTO this year and the ongoing growth of the T100 Triathlon World Tour, which goes from strength to strength, we believed it was our collective responsibility to continue to build on the good work and bring a WTCS race back to London.”
The PTO will work with British Triathlon, one of the leading triathlon nations, to market the event to its audiences to drive participation and deliver a compelling grassroots programme, creating a positive impact which extends beyond the weekend of racing.
British Triathlon CEO Ruth Daniels, who has been focused on bringing a major event back to the UK, added her voice behind the announcement, commenting: “We’re really excited to partner with the PTO, World Triathlon and UK Sport on bringing a major event back to London.
“Not only is this a new major event model for us, it provides an opportunity for our incredible British athletes to perform on home soil in front of a passionate crowd of friends, family and fans.
“As well as enabling us to increase visibility of our great sport to new audiences, it will provide some great opportunities for hundreds of volunteers to get involved and experience another great sporting event in our capital city.”
Hamburg to host 2027 finals
It’s also more good news for sport in London following the Mayor Of London’s announcement last week, which celebrated women’s sports events bringing more than 1.4 million fans to the capital in 2025, through events including the Women’s Rugby World Cup, the HSBC Championships [tennis], Lionesses matches [football] at Wembley and the 25,000 fans who enjoyed the 2025 London T100 Triathlon weekend on 9-10 August this summer.
Looking further ahead, World Triathlon has also announced that Hamburg will host the 2027 World Triathlon Championship Finals.
That event is scheduled to take place in September 2027, and will crown World Champions across the Elite, Para, U23, Junior and Age Group sprint and standard distance triathlon and aquabike categories, as well as Triathlon Mixed Relay for Junior/U23, Para triathlon and Age-Group.
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