CANADIAN RACE

Montreal International Triathlon

IT’S BEEN A long time coming, but as we go to print the Montreal International Triathlon is gearing up for an exciting elite race and a smaller age-group event that will include both super-sprint and sprint races. While the 2021 event will be just one of five races that will count toward the World Triathlon Championship Series title, the really big show is coming in 2022, when Montreal will host the World Triathlon Sprint World Championships for both elite and age-group athletes. That race will feature elite super-sprint and mixed team relay races, along with the junior and age-group sprint and mixed relay championships, too. While Bermuda will host a similar event later this year, it’s likely that the race in Montreal will attract a larger field of age-group competitors, as more countries are able to co-ordinate qualifying events for the worlds. Montreal event president Patrice Brunet is expecting countries to send a full contingent of athletes to the races, which means we should see between 4,000 and 5,000 athletes competing in Montreal.

After all the challenges organizers have had to go through with the COVID-19 pandemic, Brunet is thrilled that the 2021 event will be going ahead.

“The team organizing the race is exceptional,” he said in an interview from Tokyo, where he was working for the Court of Arbitration for Sport. “They’ve managed to move forward and ensure that everything will be done right. We’re moving forward this year because the elites and amateurs need the race – our plan was to deliver a race in 2021, and that’s what we’re doing.”

The race will also serve as a dry run for next year’s worlds.