The 2026 World Triathlon Championship Series season, delayed by the postponement of the planned opener in Abu Dhabi, will now begin on Saturday, April 25 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. USA Triathlon has confirmed a nine-rider U.S. elite squad that mixes Olympic medallists with emerging talent at the venue's first top-level WTCS outing.
Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist Gwen Jorgensen returns to the WTCS circuit after a runner-up finish at the 2026 Americas Cup Gulfport in March. She is joined by Paris 2024 mixed-relay silver medallist Taylor Spivey, who opens her 2026 campaign in Uzbekistan, and her relay team-mate Seth Rider, who arrives off two March World Cup starts.
Also on the U.S. list is John Reed, who produced a 28:35 10-kilometre run in Gold Coast last month and finished 2025 as the top-ranked U.S. man in 17th globally. "I want to be up front and a factor in these races from the start, and set a precedent for the Olympic cycle," Reed said.
Chase McQueen returns to Samarkand where he placed fifth at a World Triathlon Cup in 2024, while Paris 2024 Olympian Kirsten Kasper - seventh at Ironman 70.3 Oceanside in March - headlines the women's entry alongside Erika Ackerlund, Danielle Orie and Darr Smith.
Samarkand has hosted two World Triathlon Cups in 2024 and 2025 but this will be its first WTCS-level event, staged at the newly built Silk Road Samarkand venue. The programme features a standard Olympic-distance race - a 1,500-metre swim followed by a 40-kilometre bike and a 10-kilometre run - and the weekend will double up with a World Triathlon Para Cup.
Abu Dhabi's cancellation left a significant gap at the top of the 2026 schedule, making Samarkand the first live data point on where the world's elite sit heading into a busy LA28-cycle season that continues through the European summer.