Duathlon is an athletic event that consists of a running leg, followed by a cycling leg and then another running leg in a format similar to Triathlon. The International Triathlon Union governs the sport internationally.
Although many athletes specialise in Duathlon, the sport is also often used during the Triathlon off-season by age-groupers and elites to improve their running speed and bike power. Events tend to be held in the spring or autumn, so as not to clash with summer Triathlon races.
Since 2017 the Duathlon World Championships have been a central element of the ITU Multi-sports World Championship Festival, with Denmark’s Andreas Schilling and Austria’s Sandrina Illes crowned champions at the event in Fyn in 2018. In 2019 it was the French who dominated, Benjamin Choquert and Sandra Levenez producing the gold-medal performances when it mattered.
Duathlon features for the second time at The World Games: in 2013, in Cali, Colombia, it was the Duathlon route that introduced the beautiful city to the athletes and their audience; Duathlon is a good way for the host city to show its best scenery and sights for the TV audience. At The World Games 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 40 female and 40 male Duathlon athletes will compete in individual competitions as well as in Mixed Relay. The qualifications will be held in 2021.
The other invitational sports for The World Games 2022 are Flag Football, Lacrosse (men), and Wheelchair Rugby, which will all be presented in forthcoming articles. The fifth sport Wushu was introduced in an earlier article. The invitational sports complete the sports programme along with the 30 official sports.
The World Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years by the International World Games Association under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee. The 11th edition of The World Games will be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, 7-17 July 2022. 3,600 athletes from over 30 sports and 100 countries will take part in The World Games.
