WTS Leeds postponed

We're now looking at World Triathlon events in June being postponed due to the Coronavirus COVID-19.

Kevin Mackinnon March 18, 2020

In an announcement sent out today, the organizers of the World Triathlon Leeds have postponed the event scheduled for June 6 to 7.

The ITU shut down all activities until April 30 due to the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic last week, but now we’re starting to see races schedule in June affected by the global pandemic.

Today’s announcement doesn’t offer a new date for the race, but does suggest that a new date will be announced by April 30.

First hosted in 2016, the Leeds event serves as a hometown race for local heros Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee. Another Olympic medalist and world champion, Vicky Holland, also lives and trains in the area.

Here’s the full text of the announcement:

The Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the AJ Bell World Triathlon Leeds have made the difficult decision to postpone the event from the original date of the 6^th – 7^th June 2020, due to the current situation with the COVID-19 outbreak.

When hosting major events, the welfare and well-being of everyone involved in the event, including athletes, officials, spectators, volunteers and staff is the absolute priority.

The UK Government’s current advice is to increase social distancing and has suggested that mass gatherings or events that require emergency services provision will not be able to go ahead. Therefore the LOC has taken the decision of postponing the event.

The LOC are extremely disappointed for the athletes, who have been training hard and were looking forward to competing in the event, and for the staff and volunteers who have been working tirelessly to deliver an outstanding event. However, with the evolution and fast-paced change of the situation regarding COVID-19, this is now the most responsible and best course of action to take.

The LOC are in consultation with relevant authorities and partners to find a suitable date to reschedule the event with an update to be provided by the 30^th April.

Participant entries will automatically be transferred to the rescheduled date. Those who have grandstand tickets for the event will be contacted directly regarding their purchase.

Additional information and updates will be shared with participants as appropriate and will be made available via email, on our website and our Facebook and Twitter accounts. Please do bear with us as we navigate through this difficult time, we look forward to welcoming all athletes, spectators and partners to Leeds on the re-scheduled date.