World Triathlon Championship Finals: Preview, schedule and stars to watch including Hayden Wilde, Alex Yee, Flora Duffy and Georgia Taylor-Brown
The winners of this year’s World Triathlon Championship Series will be decided this week in the season finale that takes place from 25-26 November in Abu Dhabi. Find out everything you need to know about the all-important races including when to watch and the stars in contention for the overall crown.
Triathlon
One race to decide it all. For the elite women and men competing in this year’s World Triathlon Championship Series, the entire season comes down to this week's competition in Abu Dhabi.
Both the men’s and women’s competitions have gone down to the wire, with Hayden Wilde and Alex Yee the favourites for the men’s title and Georgia-Taylor Brown and Flora Duffy the front runners in the women’s. However, with triathlon being the unpredictable sport that it is, there’s a lot more that could happen and we may yet see a surprise winner in either category.
Find out everything you need to know about the World Triathlon Championship Finals in Abu Dhabi.
When and where do the World Triathlon Championship Series Finals take place?
The final of the World Triathlon Championship Series takes place in Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, with the elite women’s and men’s titles to be decided on 25 and 26 November.
Yas Island is a 25 km2 piece of land that also hosts the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and has become one of the leading tourism spots in Abu Dhabi.
Athletes will gather at the Yas Bay Race Village for the season finale as they vie for the title of 2022 champion.
Athletes to watch in the World Triathlon Championship Series finale: Hayden Wilde, Alex Yee, Flora Duffy and Georgia Taylor-Brown go for gold
New Zealand’s Olympic bronze medallist Hayden Wilde is in pole position for the World Champion title in Abu Dhabi, knowing that a win or even second-place finish this week will deliver him top honours for the season. The man most likely to stand in his way is Great Britain’s Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Alex Yee, who has accrued 3732.09 points so far this season, just over 117 less than Wilde.
Should Yee (24) win and Wilde (25) finish third or below, the Brit would take the overall title. And if either of them are crowned champion they would become the youngest season title holders since Alistair Brownlee in 2009.
While Wilde and Yee are the two main contenders for the title, there are others who could spoil the party should race results go their way.
France’s Leo Bergere and Belgium’s Jelle Geens occupy third and fourth in the standings, and both could take the title should the top two perform below the lofty standards they have set for themselves this season.
The women’s race also looks likely to be a straight shootout between two Olympic medallists, with Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown - silver in Tokyo - on 3925.00 points from her four scoring events and Olympic champion Flora Duffy just behind on 3855.63.
Duffy comes into the finale off a spectacular win in her home World Triathlon Series race in Bermuda, but both know that a win in Abu Dhabi will be enough for them to be crowned World Champion.
However, don’t rule out Team GB’s Beth Potter or the USA’s Taylor Knibb who, while further behind on 3200.73 and 3189.91 points respectively, still have an outside chance of taking the title. The opportunities are slim for both of them, with Knibb needing both Taylor-Brown and Duffy to finish outside the top 10, but with triathlon being such an unpredictable affair, miracles can - and sometimes do - happen.
World Triathlon Series Finals schedule
All times in local time (CEST +3)
Friday 25 November
13:06 pm-15:06 pm:
2022 World Triathlon Elite Women Championship Finals
Saturday 26 November
15:06 pm-17:00 pm:
2022 World Triathlon Elite Men Championship Finals