here's our story on this (on the front page). does it seem a little late to add this? i'm not complaining, but i would think that the IOC would want to makes these program adds before international federations set out their plans for olympic qualifying for the next quad.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Not knowing a thing about most of the other events that were added (mixed Judo, Archery, table tennis etc.), but I would guess some other sporting bodies would have the same issue so at least it is consistent?

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Wasn't a mens 800m swim and a women's 1500m swim also added to the Tokyo program?

http://www.insidethegames.biz/...-tokyo-2020-olympics

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no sponsors | no races | nothing to see here

I'm excited to see that the push for inclusion was a success.

I think the mixed relay event is super dynamic and more enjoyable to watch than most standard distance races.

I wonder what impact this might have on someone like Alistair or Gomez opting to compete in ITU for another Olympic cycle.

Better late than never, though yeah, it's really late. Going to make for great TV. People love watching swimming and the relay swim is short enough to keep a general audience's attention. The bike is long enough for a commercial break during each athlete's leg and the run is again short enough to keep people watching. I suspect it will get more eyes on triathlon and the mixed format is really cool.

Mixed relay has been a success in biathlon.
I have always liked them in triathlon.

Hopefully we can see them more overall.

I was wondering the same thing... although I would put less odds on Gomez given the female side hasn't produced much talent in Spain. This probably does give Ali consideration to keep his long distance stint just that.

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

It appears you are correct, that is certainly a longer time coming than tri mixed relays! More golds for Ledecky!

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Better late than never, though yeah, it's really late.


Yes - it's unfortunate that, it could not happen for the last Olympic Games (Rio last Summer). The Mixed Relay has been around for a few years. But getting events on the Olympic Program, even for an existing sport that is on the program already, is never an easy thing. The IOC has all kinds of hurdles, protocol and and a process that you have to go over/through!

The races that I have seen from Hamburg as well as from the Commonwealth Games from a few years ago were awesome!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

This probably does give Ali consideration to keep his long distance stint just that.

I was thinking the same. The prospect of a shot at 2 more Olympic gold medals might be too much to resist. AB is still young enough to do Tokyo and have lots of time left for Long course afterwards. Given the GB women are pretty strong he certainly has a shot at being a 4 time gold medallist. And he doesn't need to worry about any draft rules on the bike. ;-)

LOL, when I read, "The IOC has all kinds of hurdles..." I saw, "The IOC has a long list of people that need to be bribed."

The only time my family has actually gotten sucked into watching triathlon on tv with me was the Hamburg relay. Much better viewing from a broad appeal perspective than a straight olympic let along anything longer.

I'm curious how it will affect the athletes for the individual events. It's quite short but also pretty much an all out sprint. Will there be enough time in between for full recovery?

That's Al Brownlee likely to do Tokyo then.

The mixed relay for Triathlon will likely be what the Sprint did for Nordic Skiing, it's a shorter more action packed, TV friendly format that will likely get more air time, and hopefully spark more interest in the sport amongst kids. I think the biggest plus with the IOC decisions is the idea of creating mixed gender events (mixed relays in track, swimming, and Triathlon). I'd love to see them alternate olympic cycles in terms of order (just like the Nordic Ski sprint is classic one olympics, and then freestyle the next) do F-M-F-M, and then the next time do M-F-M-F (or get really wild, and make it a tactical decision of each team, which in a draft legal setting could make it really interesting, as an additional aside, I'd love to see Major League Tri try that at an event, they do the flip flopping of order, but not the team decided)

Has it been confirmed the triathlon will be shortened to a sprint?

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USAT Level II- Ironman U Certified Coach

How do we petition for cyclocross?

Depending on the criteria for the squads I would go opposite viewpoint. But I think it's going to be something to the lines that for your federation to compete in MTR you must have 4 (2 guys, 2 girls) competing in the individual race so he likely has great shot of making team.

But if it's best short course (super sprint) athletes regardless of individual status/rankings in the individual Olympic race, by 2020 Ali likely won't be best at that race distance.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

How will they do the relay? Will the IOC pick which leg will be the female leg or will it be up to each country... which means the women will always be the swimmers?

Or am I missing something?

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

4 members per team each does S-B-R

~300m S
~5k B
~1600m R
-tag partner

Female-male-female-male (current order)

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Okay. Thought it was a 'traditional' relay where one person swims, another bikes, and another runs.

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Favorite Gear: Dimond | Cadex | Desoto Sport | Hoka One One

no never been that format, or atleast in last 6+ years it's always been 4 person teams w each member doing individual S/B/R, tag teammate.

Very exciting racing, usually lasts around 1hr20mins.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Just heard on ITU Leeds coverage that there will be 5-6 days between the two events with team being second. Not sure if that is official or if that is speculation by shepley and other guy.

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Looks like 3 WTS level relays this year held in UK, Hamburg, and Edmonton. Federations also have an import continental champs to deal with. For the US this will be at the October Sarasota World Cup. The ITU press release hinted at a qualification procedure that will give relay spots based on points system from these various relay events, but it looks like we will wait until February for the details to be made official. Any speculation? I would guess that the number of federations who get 3 spots may need to drop to accommodate all the relays.

Excited for more relays, I was hoping for 5/year but I guess it's tough to do as long as the Olympic distance still is the goal for individual racing. Also not sure if keeping Oly achieves their goal of not adding too many athletes since only a few would be able to do both super sprint and Oly at a world class level. I'll bet they bring it to sprint distance for individuals

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Not adding athletes is a given, not a goal. There will be not more than 55 athletes per sex inclusive of relay and individual races. And it is highly likely that to be eligible for the relay one must have started the individual race.