World Triathlon has appointed Kelly Mahoney, of Canada; Jan Philipp Krawczyk, of Germany; and Gergely Markus, of Hungary, as Technical Delegates across the Olympic and Paralympic programmes at Los Angeles 2028. The three officials will work alongside the LA28 Organising Committee, the International Olympic Committee -IOC- and the International Paralympic Committee -IPC- to prepare the women’s, men’s and Mixed Relay events at the Olympic Games, as well as the 12 individual medal events on the Paralympic programme.
Technical Delegates ensure that organisers implement the World Triathlon Event Organiser Manual and competition rules, including the federation’s anti-doping provisions. Their role connects institutional decisions with the practical delivery of each event. “Kelly Mahoney and Jan Philipp Krawczyk have far-reaching experience and have been Technical Delegates at the highest level of World Triathlon competition, including the Championship Series,” said World Triathlon President Antonio F. Arimany. “Along with World Triathlon’s Gergely Markus, there is a wealth of Olympic and Paralympic experience on this team that will help ensure the smooth running of exceptional Games for our athletes and their teams at LA28.”
Experience from Beijing to Paris
Mahoney was part of the Technical Officials’ teams at the Beijing 2008, Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Krawczyk worked at the Tokyo Olympic Games and the Paris Paralympic Games 2024. Markus, World Triathlon’s current Sport Director, has been involved in every edition since triathlon made its Olympic debut at Sydney 2000, serving in different capacities as a Technical Official, Competition Manager, Technical Delegate and Sport Director.
The Olympic events will take place on 15 July for the women, 16 July for the men and 20 July for the Mixed Relay. The women’s race will award the first gold medal of the entire Games, with triathlon opening the medal programme for the first time since Sydney 2000. The Paralympic competitions will be held on 17 and 18 August. Both the Olympic and Paralympic races will start and finish at Venice Beach, with the transition area and finish line located where Venice Boulevard meets the sand. The Olympic individual races will comprise a 1.5km swim, 40km bike ride and 10km run, while each Mixed Relay athlete will complete a super-sprint distance. The Paralympic races will be contested over a 750m swim, 20km bike ride and 5km run. The venue also returns the sport to California, where triathlon originated in 1974.
Two qualification systems leading to Venice Beach
The Olympic programme will retain 110 quota places, divided equally between 55 women and 55 men. The qualification period began on 18 May 2026 and will end on 18 May 2028. USA is guaranteed two places per gender as the host nation, provided it has eligible athletes, while the remaining quotas will be allocated through eight pathways involving the Mixed Relay World Championships and rankings, the individual ranking, universality and continental representation. Athletes must be inside the top 160 of the World Triathlon Ranking at the end of the period to access these routes. As the main innovation, LA28 expands the ‘New Flag’ system to offer up to two places per gender on each continent to countries that have not otherwise qualified: one through the Continental Games and another through the World Triathlon Ranking. Quotas will be awarded to the National Olympic Committees -NOCs-, which will subsequently select the athletes who represent them.
The Paralympic programme will allocate 120 places —60 male and 60 female— across 12 medal events covering the PTWC, PTS2, PTS3, PTS4, PTS5 and PTVI sport classes. Its qualification period will run from 15 June 2027 to 14 June 2028, with each athlete’s three best results counting towards the final ranking. The top nine athletes in each medal event will earn one place for their respective National Paralympic Committees -NPCs-. The remaining six men’s and six women’s places will be awarded through Bipartite Commission Invitations agreed by World Triathlon and the IPC.
Technical preparations within the new global cycle
The appointments coincide with the reorganisation of the international calendar that will begin in 2027 through the Triathlon World Tour. In an interview with SportsIn, Arimany explained that World Triathlon would retain “the sporting and official side: the rules, anti-doping and competition production, which is where we have more experience”. The qualification system will award equivalent points at World Triathlon Championship Series -WTCS- and T50 events, as well as at World Cups and Challenger competitions, when the new tour begins in 2027. The LA28 test event will also count towards the individual and Mixed Relay rankings.
Mahoney, Krawczyk and Markus will work with the support of World Triathlon staff and alongside the Organising Committee, IOC and IPC throughout the preparation of the competitions. Their appointment comes after the Olympic qualification period has already begun, while the Paralympic pathway will open in June 2027. The process will conclude with the Olympic races in July and the Paralympic events in August 2028 at Venice Beach.
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