The World Triathlon Junior Championships will be held in Quarteira ©Getty Images

The 2021 World Triathlon Junior Championships have been moved from Bermuda to Quarteira in Portugal, with new dates of November 6 and 7 confirmed.

The age-group event had been due to take place alongside the World Triathlon Sprint and Relay Championships, which were scheduled for October 15 to 17.

However, it was announced earlier this month that the World Triathlon Sprint and Relay Championships would not take place this year due to a spike in COVID-19 infections on the island.

The World Triathlon Junior Championships will now be held in Quarteira on the Algarve coast instead.

Quarteira has previously hosted multiple legs of the Europe Triathlon Junior Cup.

The event will run alongside a Europe Triathlon Cup contest on the first weekend in November.

"We really want to thank the Portuguese National Federation, the local Organising Committee and Europe Triathlon for their willingness to step up and add the Junior World Championships to the programme of Quarteira," said World Triathlon President Marisol Casado.

The World Triathlon Junior Championships were moved from Bermuda because of a spike in COVID-19 infections ©Getty Images
The World Triathlon Junior Championships were moved from Bermuda because of a spike in COVID-19 infections ©Getty Images

"With the juniors already having missed their World Championships last year due to the pandemic, it was very important for us to give them the opportunity to compete this year so that the athletes will have at least one chance of competing at the highest level before moving out of this age group."

Organisers had cited "changing conditions on the ground" when confirming that the event would not be held in Bermuda.

"Using a tool provided by the World Health Organization, the Organising Committee and the World Triathlon conducted a risk assessment on the event," World Triathlon said.

"The analysis considered the island’s recent spike in COVID-19 infections in addition to the Bermuda Hospital’s elevated COVID-19 patient intake, and the Organising Committee in consultation with World Triathlon made the decision not to proceed with the October event.

"The health and safety of all athletes, coaches, staff, contractors, volunteers, and the people of the island was the primary consideration."

Bermuda has a population of around 64,000, and has recorded 4,982 COVID-19 cases and 52 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

The current wave is the biggest it has faced to date, although cases are beginning to decline.