Olympics
Consisting of running and cycling, a duathlon can be contested on almost any terrain, although it usually takes place on tarmac. The ITU Duathlon World Championships are held on an annual basis and consist of a 10km run, 40km cycle and 5km run. At Elite level, the cycling is draft legal.
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 run 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 Multisports 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. You can find the full results here.
