Vincent Luis will be hoping to lead France to a repeat winImage caption: Vincent Luis will be hoping to lead France to a repeat win
Although there are notable absentees in the line-up for Sunday's mixed relay race, there are teams and competitors that have shown strongly in
previous relay events that will probably have a say in where the medals go, given that Saturday's racing means the teams will probably not be known until a couple of hours before the race.
There
are 20 teams in the event - Australia, Mexico, Canada and New Zealand have all
been unable to travel and will not be among them. The holders are France, who
are seeking a third title and with the formidable Vincent Luis almost a lock-in
for the anchor leg, Les Bleus are probably the team to beat.
Great Britain’s squad is a strong one in Hamburg – both Brownlee
brothers are in attendance, along with Alex Yee. The women’s contingent –
Georgia Taylor-Brown, Jess Learmonth and Vicky Holland give an overall strength
to the GB squad that should have them in contention.
The USA
also have a strong women’s contingent in their squad with Katie Zaferes,
Taylor Spivey and Summer Rappaport all available for action in Hamburg.
Hosts
Germany have Laura Lindemann and Jonas Schomburg already qualified for next
year’s Olympic Games and are likely to add their leading pair from the Saturday races in
their push for a home win.
Veteran Ironman takes postponement in his stride
Hiromu Inada is already certified as the world’s oldest Ironman but seems not to be satisfied with the mark he set in 2018, when he competed in Hawaii when just 37 days short of his 86th birthday, and is still in training at his facility in Chiba, east of Tokyo, for next year.
The Japanese veteran is now looking to stretch his career into his 90s after his enforced year out when the 2020 coronavirus restrictions resulted in him missing an event next month.
“My goal is next year's world championship in Hawaii,” Inada told Reuters. “I will absolutely participate and I absolutely want to break the world record of being the oldest to complete the race again. This is my current and biggest goal.”
Inada only began swimming and running in earnest after he retired from Japan’s national broadcaster, NHK. He bought a bike at the age of 69 and competed in his first triathlon a year later.
He was 82 when he first entered the Hawaii Ironman but fell short in his bid to be the oldest finisher ever when his time was five seconds too slow to be officially registered.
Next year he returned and set his mark for the gruelling 3.86 km swim, 180.25 km bike ride and 42.2km endurance event. He still gets up at 04:30 and is in the swimming pool by 06:00. “I hope I can keep my physical peak for the postponed race,” said Inada. “I’d like to think the delay works in my favour.”
Hamburg World Championships “the only option”
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
Marisol CasadoImage caption: Marisol Casado
World Triathlon president Marisol Casado said that the decision to award the WTS World Championship titles at the Hamburg event was “far from ideal”, but the only option left to the world governing body after the next two events were both cancelled due to the coronavirus.
Montreal in October and Bermuda in November were to have been the two final meetings of a season that was not allowed to start when the world went into lockdown in March. Bermuda is scheduled to be the venue for next year’s Grand Final.
“We know that announcing that the World Championships titles will now, following the cancellation of the two events, be contested at the only event left on the calendar - and that there is little advance notice of this announcement - is far from ideal,” said Casado.
“We want to assure you that it is not just the best option but the only option we have to give our athletes the chance to compete and showcase their best at this level.”
How can I watch the World Triathlon Series Hamburg races?
All times are BST and subject to change
BBC Sport will have live coverage of the World Triathlon Series races from Hamburg.
The mixed relay on Sunday will on iPlayer and the Sport website and app. You can catch up with the men's and women's elite races on iPlayer now.
Coverage will be available to catch-up on for 30 days too.
Full coverage details
Sunday, 6 September
Mixed relay: 12:15-14:30 BST - iPlayer and the BBC Sport website & app
How to get involved with Triathlon
BBC Sport
Great Britain has a proud history of triathlon success, with Yorkshire-born brothers Alistair and Jonny Brownlee currently ruling the roost at Olympic level after winning gold and silver in Rio respectively.
tThe main triathlon season runs from May until September and there are loads of races to choose from - there are over 750 triathlon clubs in the UK with many of them offering taster sessions for people interested in taking up the sport. You can find a comprehensive list of races via the British Triathlon event finder.
Triathlon England's Go Tri scheme is a fun way to get a taste of the sport without breaking the bank. You'll also find training advice and tips about transitioning from one discipline to another on their website. Local pool-based races are a great introduction to the sport if you are a first timer.
Video caption: Louise Minchin: How BBC Breakfast presenter & others caught the triathlon bugLouise Minchin: How BBC Breakfast presenter & others caught the triathlon bug
Live Reporting
All times stated are UK
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images 
AFPCopyright: AFP Vincent Luis will be hoping to lead France to a repeat winImage caption: Vincent Luis will be hoping to lead France to a repeat win 
Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images Marisol CasadoImage caption: Marisol Casado 
Video caption: Louise Minchin: How BBC Breakfast presenter & others caught the triathlon bugLouise Minchin: How BBC Breakfast presenter & others caught the triathlon bug
Latest PostWho is competing in the World Triathlon Series Hamburg races?
Great Britain are sending a strong squad to Hamburg.
Following Georgia Taylor-Brown's success in the women's elite race on Saturday she competes again on Sunday for Mixed Relay gold.
Jessica Learmonth from the women's competition joins Barclay Izzard and Alex Yee from the men's elite competition to form GB's mixed relay team.
Full start lists can be found here.
GB's Taylor-Brown wins Triathlon World gold
Video content
BreakingTaylor-Brown wins Triathlon World gold
Britain's Georgia Taylor-Brown impresses to win the women's race at the Triathlon World Championships in Hamburg.
Read moreWorld Series Triathlon - GB feature in mixed relay race
Live coverage of the mixed relay race in the World Series Triathlon in Hamburg, where the 2020 world champions will be crowned.
Catch upReduced field for mixed relay
Although there are notable absentees in the line-up for Sunday's mixed relay race, there are teams and competitors that have shown strongly in previous relay events that will probably have a say in where the medals go, given that Saturday's racing means the teams will probably not be known until a couple of hours before the race.
There are 20 teams in the event - Australia, Mexico, Canada and New Zealand have all been unable to travel and will not be among them. The holders are France, who are seeking a third title and with the formidable Vincent Luis almost a lock-in for the anchor leg, Les Bleus are probably the team to beat.
Great Britain’s squad is a strong one in Hamburg – both Brownlee brothers are in attendance, along with Alex Yee. The women’s contingent – Georgia Taylor-Brown, Jess Learmonth and Vicky Holland give an overall strength to the GB squad that should have them in contention.
The USA also have a strong women’s contingent in their squad with Katie Zaferes, Taylor Spivey and Summer Rappaport all available for action in Hamburg.
Hosts Germany have Laura Lindemann and Jonas Schomburg already qualified for next year’s Olympic Games and are likely to add their leading pair from the Saturday races in their push for a home win.
Veteran Ironman takes postponement in his stride
Hiromu Inada is already certified as the world’s oldest Ironman but seems not to be satisfied with the mark he set in 2018, when he competed in Hawaii when just 37 days short of his 86th birthday, and is still in training at his facility in Chiba, east of Tokyo, for next year.
The Japanese veteran is now looking to stretch his career into his 90s after his enforced year out when the 2020 coronavirus restrictions resulted in him missing an event next month.
“My goal is next year's world championship in Hawaii,” Inada told Reuters. “I will absolutely participate and I absolutely want to break the world record of being the oldest to complete the race again. This is my current and biggest goal.”
Inada only began swimming and running in earnest after he retired from Japan’s national broadcaster, NHK. He bought a bike at the age of 69 and competed in his first triathlon a year later.
He was 82 when he first entered the Hawaii Ironman but fell short in his bid to be the oldest finisher ever when his time was five seconds too slow to be officially registered.
Next year he returned and set his mark for the gruelling 3.86 km swim, 180.25 km bike ride and 42.2km endurance event. He still gets up at 04:30 and is in the swimming pool by 06:00. “I hope I can keep my physical peak for the postponed race,” said Inada. “I’d like to think the delay works in my favour.”
Hamburg World Championships “the only option”
World Triathlon president Marisol Casado said that the decision to award the WTS World Championship titles at the Hamburg event was “far from ideal”, but the only option left to the world governing body after the next two events were both cancelled due to the coronavirus.
Montreal in October and Bermuda in November were to have been the two final meetings of a season that was not allowed to start when the world went into lockdown in March. Bermuda is scheduled to be the venue for next year’s Grand Final.
“We know that announcing that the World Championships titles will now, following the cancellation of the two events, be contested at the only event left on the calendar - and that there is little advance notice of this announcement - is far from ideal,” said Casado.
“We want to assure you that it is not just the best option but the only option we have to give our athletes the chance to compete and showcase their best at this level.”
How can I watch the World Triathlon Series Hamburg races?
All times are BST and subject to change
BBC Sport will have live coverage of the World Triathlon Series races from Hamburg.
The mixed relay on Sunday will on iPlayer and the Sport website and app. You can catch up with the men's and women's elite races on iPlayer now.
Coverage will be available to catch-up on for 30 days too.
Full coverage details
Sunday, 6 September
Mixed relay: 12:15-14:30 BST - iPlayer and the BBC Sport website & app
How to get involved with Triathlon
BBC Sport
Great Britain has a proud history of triathlon success, with Yorkshire-born brothers Alistair and Jonny Brownlee currently ruling the roost at Olympic level after winning gold and silver in Rio respectively.
tThe main triathlon season runs from May until September and there are loads of races to choose from - there are over 750 triathlon clubs in the UK with many of them offering taster sessions for people interested in taking up the sport. You can find a comprehensive list of races via the British Triathlon event finder.
Triathlon England's Go Tri scheme is a fun way to get a taste of the sport without breaking the bank. You'll also find training advice and tips about transitioning from one discipline to another on their website. Local pool-based races are a great introduction to the sport if you are a first timer.
Find out more about the sport here.
Video content