Tokyo's Olympic Triathlon Course: A Sneak Peek

This week’s Tokyo ITU World Triathlon Olympic Qualification Event featured plenty of exciting storylines, including a couple of controversial decisions and several athletes earning their qualification for next year’s Olympic Games. It also gave us an opportunity to see the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Triathlon Course that 110 (55 men and 55 women) Olympic triathletes will compete on on July 27 (men) and July 28 (women).

The Tokyo Olympic Triathlon Course

Odaiba Park will be the venue for all the triathlon and paratriathlon events. The small island in Tokyo Bay lies to the south of the metropolitan centre, between Koto City and Shinagawa City, with incredible views back to the city across Rainbow Bridge.

The Elites’ 1.5km swim consists of two 750m laps starting on the pontoon by Odaiba Beach and heading into Tokyo Bay towards Bird Island. The athletes then transition on Seaside Park before heading onto the technically demanding eight-lap, 40km bike course that takes in the gardens of West Promenade before a sharp cutback to head north and under Wangan-doro Avenue and another cutback to head back towards transition. The four-lap run then circles the park, finishing in grand style back on the edge of Tokyo Bay, with the soaring Japanese capital as a backdrop. The Tokyo area was grappling with a heatwave during the test event, which forced the women’s test event run course to be shortened to 5K. What happens if similar weather conditions occur during the Olympics? We’re following up with the ITU and will report back.

ITU’s photographers captured these images from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Triathlon course.