World Triathlon Aims for T100 Olympic Inclusion for 2032 Games
World Triathlon is pushing to add the T100 distance to the Olympics as soon as the 2032 Games in Brisbane.
The current Olympic distance, which is raced in the World Triathlon Championship Series, is a 1.5-kilometer swim, 40-kilometer bike race and 10-kilometer run. (Starting in 2027, that distance will be rebranded as the T50 race.)
The Professional Triathletes Organization, in partnership with the governing body World Triathlon, is pushing to add the T100 race, which includes a 2-kilometer swim, 80-kilometer bike race and 18-kilometer run. World Triathlon president Antonio Arimany said in a late December interview that adding the new event is a priority for the organization.
“We will try to put the T100 event within the Olympic programme,” Arimany said in an interview with British outlet City AM. “At this moment we are waiting, because the IOC is discussing the new criteria to integrate new events for any sport. But one of the strategies that we have been discussing with the PTO is to include a new event in the Olympic Games.
“For us, we should be sure that we contribute and we bring something to the Olympic programme too, not just one additional event. And in this sense, we are going to be very focused on creating and commercialising these events in the highest way we can. It has to be a win-win situation with the Olympic programme itself.”
Part of this process involves World Triathlon’s growing partnership with PTO, an organization started in 2020 that is backed by British billionaire Michael Moritz, one that counts the Saudi SURJ Sports Investment as an investor and is partially athlete-owned. It includes a new Triathlon World Tour of around 100 events per year.
Arimany said that the next steps in adding T100 would be through the International Olympic Committee and finalizing procedures for the events.
Triathlon debuted at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, with a men’s and women’s race under the now T50 format. At the Tokyo Olympics, a mixed-gender relay for two men and two women was added (the race is a 300-meter swim, a 6.8-kilometer bike race and 2-kilometer run). That was contested at the 2024 Olympics and is planned for 2028 in Los Angeles. At the 2028 LA Games, women’s triathlon will be the first medal event.