Positive news from Germany?
Three day of back-to-back racing scheduled for Hamburg in early September
As with all other aspects of life and, tragically for many, death, COVID-19 has devastated the events calendar during 2020. Event cancellations are almost not ‘news’ now, more a fait accompli.
Despite the partial lifting of restrictions in many countries around the world, travel, economic and social impacts will be felt for many months and years, and it has been very difficult to predict with any confidence when events of any kind, let alone major mass participation ones, will be able to return.
With that background – and bearing in mind that we are looking ahead around three and a half months – there was interesting news yesterday from Hamburg, Germany. It’s two major postponed events (World Triathlon Series Hamburg, originally scheduled for 11/12 July and IRONMAN Hamburg, originally set for 21 June), have now been rescheduled to the same weekend from 4-6 September 2020. Hamburg is also the venue of the Mixed Relay World Championships too, which are also included into the mix.
Aside from the coronavirus-related impacts, that’s also a huge logistical operation. A successful and safe event would be a huge step forward – time will tell if an event of this scale is realistic in the current environment.
WTS Hamburg 2020 and the Mixed Relay World Championships, moved to September
The local organizer of the Hamburg World Triathlon Series and the Mixed Relay World Championships has announced that the event, postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, will take place on the weekend of September 4-5, 2020.
“After assessing all event scenarios, and in alignment with the city of Hamburg, the German Government, the International Triathlon Union (ITU), and our other partners in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, the IRONMAN Hamburg triathlon, originally scheduled for June 21, 2020 and the WTS Hamburg triathlon, originally scheduled for July 11 & 12, 2020 have been postponed to September 2020”, explained the organisers.
“To best meet the needs of our athletes and the local community, the WTS Hamburg races will take place on September 5, 2020 and IRONMAN Hamburg will take place on September 6, 2020. The Elite races of the ITU World Triathlon Series and ITU Mixed Relay World Championships will also take place on the same weekend”, assured the organisers.
Over the next weeks, the Organisers and the German Triathlon Union (DTU) will work with the relevant authorities and partners to create a safe and enjoyable race experience for all athletes, volunteers, partners and spectators. While we are prevented from holding these events on the original dates, we are looking forward to providing athletes with an exceptional experience in the near future.
Are we in a triathlon boom, or hurtling towards burnout? Laura Siddall on the growth of the sport
