Age Group Team USA Qualification
15+ (as of Dec. 31 of the World Competition Year)
- Mixed Relay World Championship
16+ (as of Dec. 31 of the World Competition Year)
- Sprint Distance Triathlon (Draft Legal) World Championships
- Sprint Distance Duathlon (Draft Legal) World Championships
- Aquathlon World Championships
18+ (as of Dec. 31 of the World Competition Year)
- Standard Distance Triathlon, Aquabike, and Duathlon World Championships
- Cross Triathlon and Duathlon World Championships
- Long Distance Aquabike, Triathlon and Duathlon World Championships
- Winter Triathlon and Duathlon World Championships
Priority 1: World Podium
Any athlete who places 1-5 in their age group at a World Championship will automatically qualify for the respective World Championship the following year.
Note: Qualifying for Team USA and completing the World Championship race one year does not automatically qualify you for a Team USA berth the next year (only top-five finishers are automatically qualified for the following year). Team USA qualifiers, however, will be qualified for that event's national championship the next year.
Priority 2: National Championships
The remaining world championship slots are allocated to athletes who compete in the respective national championship and finish in a qualifying place, which varies from race to race.
Priority 3: Two Week Rule
If any World Championship event takes place within two weeks of the corresponding USAT National Championship event, the remaining spots on Team USA will be allocated to the highest placed finishers (after podium finishers) at the World Championship event.
Priority 4: Scholastic Qualifiers
Path 1 - Youth & Junior Pathway: Eligible Junior Athletes (16-19 as of 12/31/2025) who compete in the 2024 USAT Youth and Junior Developmental Nationals and are within the top 50% of finishers will qualify for any remaining spots in the 2025 World Triathlon AG Draft-Legal Sprint Triathlon World Championship. Junior Draft-Legal athletes will have priority followed by Youth Draft-Legal athletes aging up to 16-19 AG for 2025 who are within the top 25% of finishers in that event. Any athlete selected to the Elite Junior World Championship Team will forfeit their AG Team USA slot.
Path 2 - NCAA Women’s Collegiate Pathway: Remaining female slots for the 2025 World Triathlon AG Draft-Legal Sprint Triathlon World Championship will be allocated to eligible U.S. citizens or U.S Nationals who are within the top 50% of U.S citizens at the Women’s Collegiate National Championship (NCAA).
Path 3 - Collegiate Club Pathway:
- Sprint Distance: Any remaining spots in the 2025 AG Draft-Legal Sprint Triathlon World Championships will be allocated to athletes within the top 50% of finishers at the 2024 Collegiate Club Draft-Legal National Championships.
- Olympic Distance: Any remaining spots in the 2025 AG Standard Distance Triathlon World Championships will be allocated to athletes within the top 50% of finishers at the 2024 Collegiate Club Olympic-Distance National Championships.
Priority 5: Rankings
If slots are still available, any athlete who finished in the top 20 of their respective age group in the annual year end (12/31) USA Triathlon National Rankings from the previous year after already qualified Team USA athletes have been removed is eligible to claim a spot on Team USA. The highest ranked athletes will have first priority to accept a Team USA spot, followed by 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc., (rolling down through the top 20 athletes who have not already been offered a spot).
Not all age groups will have slots available as the team slots may have already been filled.
Note: For duathletes to be ranked during a season, they must complete two sanctioned duathlons between January 1 and December 31, of the respective year. Triathletes must complete three sanctioned triathlons between those dates. Visit the rankings page for more information.
Age Up Rule
Whatever your age is as of December 31, during the year in which you want to compete for Team USA will be the age-group used to determine your Team USA qualification status.
If an athlete "ages up" into another age group for the year of the World Championship, a separate set of results will be issued accounting for those athletes who aged up and Team USA slots will be awarded based on these results. Therefore, their finish time will be compared to those athletes in the older age group.
For example, if John Doe is going to be 49 years old by Dec. 31, 2022, he will age-up up into the 50-54 age group for the 2023 World Championships since he will be 50 years old by Dec. 31, 2023. Thus, for Team USA qualifying purposes, his time at the qualification event will be compared to the men currently in the 50-54 age group.
If you believe that you have qualified, please ensure that you have not unsubscribed from our communication. Qualification emails are sent to the email address that you used when registering for the qualification event. You will have only a few days to claim your slot once you receive the qualification email. If you do not receive your e-mail please let us know at teamusa@usatriathlon.org
Roll Down List
Athletes who fall just short of qualifying for Team USA are placed on the roll down list. Should qualified athletes forgo their spot at a World Championship event, that spot will be offered to athletes on the roll down list.
If selected for a Team USA spot, athletes on the roll down list will be contacted via email and will have a short amount of time to accept the berth. USA Triathlon will work as fast as possible until 45 days prior to a World Championship registration deadline to fill roll down spots.
If you would like to check where you are on the roll-down list, please click here to view the current standings for all applicable events.
Mixed Team Relay Qualification & Team Selection Procedure
Read more here.