Australian triathlon silver closes season as new world tour approaches

Australian triathlete Matt Hauser has ended the World Triathlon Championship Series season with silver in Abu Dhabi, finishing 18 seconds behind Brazil's Miguel Hidalgo. New Zealand's Hayden Wilde, the Paris Olympic silver medallist, completed the podium.

The result secured second place in the season standings for the Gold Coast-based Australian. Portugal's Vasco Vilaça, already crowned world champion, did not compete at this event. Hauser's year included four gold medals on the series circuit and victory at the Noosa Tri earlier in November.

A delayed finale with Olympic points at stake

Hauser said he felt the accumulated strain of a long season late in the race. He credited Hidalgo for a strong performance, including the work he had done on the cycling leg, and said he was pleased to finish on the podium.

Abu Dhabi had originally been scheduled for March, but security concerns in the region caused a postponement. The rescheduled race therefore came after the series grand final in Pontevedra. Despite that unusual position in the calendar, it still offered qualification points for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

The qualification period continues until May 18, 2028. An athlete's 12 best results during the qualification period count towards the overall ranking. Hauser had said before the event that Los Angeles remained a focus as he built towards performing well at the Games after his Paris campaign.

Other Australian results and the next circuit

Luke Willian was the next Australian home in fifth place, after a sprint contest for fourth and fifth. Luke Schofield finished 29th, Brandon Copeland 35th and Cal McClusky 40th. In the women's race, Matilda Offord placed 35th, while Sophie Malowiecki did not finish.

Russia's Diana Isakova won the women's race for her first World Triathlon Series victory, pulling away from Luxembourg's Jeanne Lehair. American Gwen Jorgensen finished third.

The season also closes a chapter for the competition's current branding. From 2027, World Triathlon and the Professional Triathletes Organisation are bringing the existing series and T100 circuit together under the Triathlon World Tour brand. The present World Triathlon Championship Series is to become the T50 World Championship Tour, alongside the T100 World Championship Tour.

World Triathlon president Antonio Arimany has said fragmentation in competition and commercial arrangements had held the sport back. The organisations chose to introduce the combined structure before the end of the current Olympic qualification cycle rather than wait until after it.

Illustrative empty running track photographed in 2017, not the Abu Dhabi triathlon course.