The World Triathlon Series event in Hamburg will decide this year's world champions ©Getty Images

The world champions for the 2020 triathlon season will be decided after just one race, with the titles now on the line at the World Triathlon Series (WTS) event in Hamburg.

World Triathlon's Executive Board approved the awarding of the titles at the event in the German city, due to be held on September 5, during its latest meeting by teleconference.

It came after the Board cancelled the two other remaining events of this year's World Triathlon Series due to concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Triathlon Canada requested to cancel their event in Montreal as well as the 2020 Paratriathlon World Championships - scheduled for October 3 and 4 - and both were approved by the Board.

The WTS event in Bermuda and the Bermuda Paratriathlon World Cup events, scheduled for November, have also been cancelled.

Now that Hamburg is the only WTS event left on the schedule, it will act as a one-event World Championship, with the Mixed Relay World Championships following a day later on September 6.

Triathlon determines their senior men's and women's world champions over the space of a season in the WTS.

This year's world champions and mixed relay world champions will be determined over two days ©Getty Images
This year's world champions and mixed relay world champions will be determined over two days ©Getty Images

Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic and Arzachena in Italy are set to host the next World Cup races on September 13 and October 10 respectively, while Alhandra in Portugal will host the only Paratriathlon World Cup event remaining on October 10.

Due to the cancellation of the event in Montreal, the Paratriathlon World Championships will not take place in 2020.

"We all know this has been and still is a very strange year with endless challenges, and that we need to make the best decisions humanly possible in the best interest of all concerned," said World Triathlon President Marisol Casado.

"We know that announcing that the World Championships title will now, following the cancellation of the two events, be contested at the only event left on the calendar and that there is little advanced notice of this announcement, is far from ideal.

"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."

The Executive Board had previously approved a split of the Grand Final for 2021 with Edmonton hosting their Grand Final in August for the elite and under-23 Olympic distance, age-group Olympic and super sprint events.

Bermuda will organise the sprint and Mixed Relay World Championships in October.