Everything you need to know about the Townsville Multisport World Championships: Part 1

If you’re a multisport athlete and have always wanted to make a trip down under, you now have the perfect excuse. From Aug. 15 to 25, 2024, Townsville, a city in the northern part of Queensland, Australia, will host the world’s premier multisport athletes for the World Triathlon Multisport Championships.

The 12-day event includes 19 world championship events: age group, paratriathlon, junior, U23 and elite races in duathlon, long-distance triathlon, long-distance aqua bike, aquathlon, cross triathlon and cross duathlon – pictured above are athletes racing on the “cross” courses. (And, yes, that’s a lot of races.)

Penticton beginnings

The first Multisport Championships took place in Penticton, British Columbia, Canada, in 2017. The city, which had hosted Ironman Canada for many years (and has since become the host city for that event again), has a long history with the sport, and revelled in the festival atmosphere that saw athletes from around the world flock to the shores of Okanagan Lake for 10 days of mulitsport festivities.

PHOTOS: Stunning images from Day 1 of ITU Multisport World Championships

Since then the Championships have been held in Fyn, Denmark (2018), Pontevedra, Spain (2019). During COVID the event was cancelled in 2020, split to three different locations (Almere, Netherlands and Aviles and El Anillo, Spain) in 2021, split to two different locations in 2022 (Samorin, Slovakia and Targu Mures, Romania). In 2023 the event was held in Ibiza, Spain.

“The Multisport World Championships is one of the most successful events in our calendar, and it has proven to be a perfect combination of sport and great triathlon destination for athletes but also for their friends and families, and we are absolutely excited to bring that event to Australia, that has such a great history of hosting World Triathlon events at the best level,” says World Triathlon President and IOC Member, Marisol Casado.

With a day off in between each event, the Multisport World Championships are set up so it’s possible to participate in a number of different races during the competition.

Destination event

Triathlon Magazine editor Kevin Mackinnon had the opportunity to travel to Townsville earlier this year to preview the race sites and the city of Townsville. Over the next few days we’ll dive deeper into the event and the region while offering some tips on how to get there and what to do once you make it down under.

Townsville is considered one of the world’s top 100 sustainable destinations, with the opportunity to check out the Great Barrier Reef and the World Heritage Wet Tropics rainforest. There’s diving, snorkelling, Aboriginal Tours, day trips with the chance to check out koalas and other wildlife at Magnetic Island and much more all close by. Whether you’re traveling by yourself or with a large group of family and/or friends, there will be lots for everyone to do in addition to taking in all the racing.

Australia is an incredible country, and while you’ll find lots to do in Townsville, adding some time to your trip to take in some other parts of Queensland (or other provinces, for that matter), will be well worth your while.

So stay tuned – over the next few days we’ll offer up lots more details about the World Triathlon Multisport Championships, a destination race like few others.