The 2025 World Triathlon Championship Finals will feature 13 races over four days. Picture: Con Chronis/AusTriathlon.
Wollongong, get ready – almost 30,000 impossibly fit people are set to descend on the city this October for the World Triathlon Championship Finals.
The event is the crown jewel of the World Triathlon calendar and will return to Australia for the first time since the Gold Coast hosted it in 2018.
Almost 7000 athletes and 20,000 supporters from all over the world will be in town to swim, cycle and run for glory.
Event director Luke Palmer said the event would showcase everything the Gong had to offer, while bringing a welcome influx of visitors and energy.
“Wollongong has so much culture to it; there’s great landscapes, beautiful beaches and lovely welcoming people,” he said.
“There’s a lot of great businesses and we encourage everyone to get involved and make the most of the tourism from athletes and their families.
“We’ve got great cafes, restaurants and a beautiful harbour to run the swim course from.
“From the perspective of hosting an event, it’s world-class.”
The 2025 World Triathlon Championship Finals will feature 13 races over four days, including elite, under 23, junior, para triathlon and age groups events.
Luke said that in addition to reaffirming Wollongong’s position as an iconic sporting destination to a worldwide audience, the buzz was hard to top.
“The event is the pinnacle on the World Triathlon calendar,” he said.
“It’s a celebration of the athletes’ hard work and dedication; whether they cross the finish line first or last it’s a great achievement to qualify for this event in the first place.
“We encourage the community to get behind the events, embrace it and give the international and interstate athletes the best experience of Wollongong possible.”
Events like this don’t happen without plenty of support, and Luke said the NSW Office of Sport, Destination NSW, Wollongong City Council and Destination Wollongong were key to bringing the finals to the region.
In the meantime, if you can’t tell your elites from your age group events, or you are a bit fuzzy on whether the swim comes before or after the run, there’s plenty of time to brush up on the finer details of the sport.
You’ve got 20 weeks to deep-dive into all the triathlon content out there – in the name of civic-spirited research, of course – before the opening ceremony on 15 October.
Luke said there was plenty of coverage on streaming services, or social media.
Maybe in five months’ time you’ll be ready to tackle a triathlon of your own.
