The three-year agreement with World Triathlon will be an exhilarating showcase of some of the world's best athletes, once again set against the stunning backdrop of our city.

The World Triathlon Cup on April 20-21 kicks things off next month before the main event, the World Triathlon Championships Finals in October 2025.

The series, a collaboration between AusTriathlon, the NSW government, and Wollongong City Council, promises not only a thrilling spectacle but also a significant economic impact with minimal disruption to the local community.

The agreement for the city also includes AusTriathlon's marquee Australian Standard Distance Championships for Age Group, Junior Sprint and Para and Intellectual Impairment Championships over the course of the next three years. These events alone will bring in significant numbers of people to the region over a long time.

Since its origins in southern California in the 1970s, the sport of triathlon has grown immensely and is now an Olympic sport. Triathletes are considered among the pinnacle of the world's best athletes for their ability and endurance over the three disciplines the sport involves.

While the World Triathlon Cup features the elite male and female triathletes from over the world, the World Triathlon Championships Finals bring with them an expected 5000 age group athletes. It's another Olympic moment for Wollongong.

Recent hosts of the Championship Finals have been Edmonton, Abu Dhabi, and Pontevedra, with the next edition taking place in Malaga, Spain, this October.

In making the announcement, World Triathlon President and IOC Member Marisol Casado said he was "thrilled that we are back in Australia with this long-term plan that will lead to another magnificent Championship Finals down under."

"Australia has proved multiple times that they are truly committed with our sport and deliver excellent events, and indeed Wollongong will follow in the steps of other events that have marked the history of World Triathlon," he said.

"With the breathtaking landscapes of Wollongong, triathletes from all over the world, and of course their friends and relatives, will be able to experience another truly remarkable and unforgettable celebration of our sport."

Unlike the UCI Road World Championships hosted in 2022, these events will mean much less disruption for the city with a much tighter cycling course with multiple loops. The smaller course and more loops are optimal conditions for global broadcast.

While the cycling course is yet to be finalised it will likely be similar to the Wollongong Triathlon Festival footprint, which we have hosted as a city for more than a decade. These events come as a direct legacy of the UCI Road World Championships which showed the city was more than capable of hosting significant international sporting events.

The call to host these major triathlon events came the week after the UCI championships. That is no coincidence. Having high profile events such as this in Wollongong stimulates the visitor economy and amplifies our reputation on the world stage.

These events are part of the "green and gold runway", the lead into the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics to be held in our country. We need to continue to show we can be an option leading into those major international events.

From a tourism perspective, the impact of these triathlon events will be significant.

These competitors across all these events, even the national titles, have to stay, eat and sleep in the region. These events attract a high-spending demographic who are likely to holiday in the region post event.

The World Cup events attract roughly 1000 competitors but for the World Triathlon Championship Finals we are expecting 6000 competitors across all of the categories.

Naturally, the city and the region can't cater for that number alone and we will need the support of surrounding areas for that event.

We are working hard as a city to increase the accommodation options across the region and this again highlights the need to expand our city's offerings to meet demand, which is already at a premium.

Wollongong has a rich history in the sport of triathlon and our geography has made it the perfect training spot for those athletes who need to run, swim and ride.

Like the UCI Championships did, these events will give the world an insight into how lucky we are to live in and around this beautiful city. That can only be a good thing.

For now, get ready to enjoy the best triathletes in the world coming to our shores next month and give these events your every possible support.