Chapter 12: Protests — World Triathlon Competition Rules

12.1 Protests p. 88

a.) An Athlete, a representative of a National Federation, a representative of a Continental Confederation or a representative of World Triathlon - for all cases accredited for the event - may protest against the start lists or competition results, or protest against the conduct of another Athlete (including the equipment they used), a Technical Official, a Coach or any accredited personnel, or protest against decisions made by the Head Referee;
b.) Protests received against a disqualification for not serving a time penalty must be analysed from the basis of the rule infringement which caused the time penalty

and not the disqualification itself.

12.2 Matters which may be the subject of a protest, including but not limited to:
a.) Eligibility of an Athlete;
b.) Composition of a start list;
c.) Conditions of a field of play, except:
(i) When a competition cannot be held in the original format due to a force majeure event.
d.) Conduct of an Athlete;
e.) Equipment used by an Athlete;
f.) Conduct of a Technical Official;
g.) Conduct of an accredited Coach or any accredited personnel;
h.) Decisions taken by the Head Referee or a Technical Official, except:
(i) A drafting violation;
(ii) A time penalty, which has already been served.
i.) Error in competition results.

12.3 Protester p. 88

a.) In accordance with the protest initiation procedures set out in rule 12.4, a protest may be initiated by:
(i) An Athlete who is entered for the competition;
(ii) A representative of a National Federation who is accredited for the competition in accordance with rule 10.9.

12.4 Protest initiation and timelines p. 89

a.) Protests will not be accepted unless initiated and lodged in accordance with the relevant timeline. The timeline for a protest varies according to the subject matter of the protest, as follows:
(i) Eligibility of an athlete:

The protest must be announced to the Head Referee by the Athlete or his/her National Federation accredited representative before 20.00 of the competition time zone the day before the competition and within a further fifteen (15) minutes a protest form in accordance with rule 12.5 must be lodged with the Head Referee.

(ii) Composition of a start list:

See 12. 4. a. (i). 1.

(iii) Safety measures or conditions of a field of play:

See 12. 4. a. (i). 1.

(iv) Conduct of an Athlete:

Elite, Youth, Junior, U23 and Para competitions (standard and shorter distances):

A. The protest must be announced to the Head Referee by the Athlete or his/her National Federation accredited representative within five (5) minutes of the later of:
i. The finish time of the protester;
ii. The finish time of the protest responder; and
iii. within a further fifteen (15) minutes, a protest form in accordance with rule 12.5 must be lodged with the Head Referee.

Elite, U23 and Para competitions (middle and longer distances):

A. The protest must be announced to the Head Referee by the Athlete or his/her National Federation accredited representative within fifteen (15) minutes of the later of:
i. The finish time of the protester;
il. The finish time of the protest responder; and
ill. within a further thirty (30) minutes, a protest form in accordance with rule 12.5 must be lodged with the Head Referee.

Age-Group competitions:

A. The protest must be announced to the Head Referee by the Athlete or his/her National Federation accredited representative within fifteen (15) minutes of the later of:
i. The finish time of the protester;
ii. The finish time of the protest responder; and
IlI. within a further thirty (30) minutes, a protest form in accordance with rule 12.5 must be lodged with the Head Referee.
(v) Equipment used by an Athlete:

Elite, Youth, Junior, U23 and Para competitions:

A. See 12. 4. a. (iv). 1. A.

Age-Group competitions:

A. See 12. 4. a. (iv). 2. A.
(vi) Conduct of a Technical Official:

Elite, Youth, Junior, U23 and Para competitions (standard and shorter distances): The protest must be announced to the Head Referee by the Athlete or his/her National Federation accredited representative within five (5) minutes after the end of the competition, and within a further fifteen (15) minutes, a protest form in accordance with rule 12.5 must be lodged with the Head Referee;
Elite, U23 and Para competitions (middle and longer distances): The protest must be announced to the Head Referee by the Athlete or his/her Nationa Federation accredited representative within fifteen (15) minutes after the end of the competition, and within a further thirty (30) minutes, a protest form in accordance with rule 12.5 must be lodged with the Head Referee;
Age-Group competitions: The protest must be announced to the Head Referee by the Athlete or his/her National Federation accredited representative within fifteen (15) minutes after the end of the competition, and within a further thirty (30) minutes, a protest form in accordance with rule 12.5 must be lodged with the Head Referee.

(vii) Conduct of an accredited Coach or any accredited personnel:

See 12. 4. a. (vi). 1.
See 12. 4. a. (vi). 2.

(vili) Decisions taken by the Head Referee:

Elite, Youth, Junior, U23 and Para competitions (standard and shorter distances:

A. The protest must be announced to the Head Referee by the Athlete or his/her National Federation accredited representative within five (5) minutes of the later of:
i. The finish time of the protester;
ii. The time of posting the decision of the Head Referee on the board at the post finish area; and
iii. within a further fifteen (15) minutes a protest form in accordance with rule 12.5 must be lodged with the Head Referee.

Elite, Youth, Junior, U23 and Para competitions (middle and longer distances):

A. The protest must be announced to the Head Referee by the Athlete or his/her National Federation accredited representative within fifteen (15) minutes of the later of:
i. The finish time of the protester;
ii. The time of posting the decision of the Head Referee on the board at the post finish area; and
ill. within a further thirty (30) minutes a protest form in accordance with rule 12.5 must be lodged with the Head Referee.

Age-Group competitions:

A. The protest must be announced to the Head Referee by the Athlete or his/her National Federation accredited representative within fifteen (15) minutes of the later of:
i. The finish time of the protester;
ii. The time of posting the decision of the Head Referee on the board at the post finish area; and
ili. within a further thirty (30) minutes a protest form in accordance with rule 12.5 must be lodged with the Head Referee.

Decisions at the briefing may be protested not later than 2 hours before the competition starts.
(ix) Competition Results:
Elite, Youth, Junior, U23 and Para competitions (standard and shorter distances): The protest must be announced to the Head Referee by the Athlete or his/her National Federation accredited representative within five (5) minutes after the results are posted on the board at the post finish area, and within a further fifteen (15) minutes a protest form in accordance with rule 12.5 must be lodged with the Head Referee;
Elite, U23 and Para competitions (middle and longer distances): The protest must be announced to the Head Referee by the Athlete or his/her National Federation accredited representative within fifteen (15) minutes after the results are posted on the board at the post finish area, and within a further thirty (30) minutes a protest form in accordance with rule 12.5 must be lodged with the Head Referee;
Age-Group competitions: The protest must be announced to the Head Referee by the Athlete or his/her National Federation accredited representative within fifteen (15) minutes after the results are posted on the board at the post finish area, and within a further thirty (30) minutes a protest form in accordance with rule 12.5 must be lodged with the Head Referee or alternatively to World Triathlon at sport@triathlon.org from fifteen (15) minutes after the end of the competition until seven (7) days after the publication of the results on www.triathlon.org.

12.5 Protests initiation procedures p. 92

a.) The protest form may be obtained from the Head Referee. A sample of the form is included in the Appendix B of these World Triathlon Competition Rules;
b.) The protest form must be accompanied by a fee of $50 USD or equivalent in another currency. Protests sent to World Triathlon at sport@triathlon.org must be accompanied by proof of the fee having been transferred to World Triathlon;
c.) The protest form must contain, if applicable:
(i) Competition name, location, date;
(ii) Protester's name, address, phone, email;
(iii) The alleged rule violated or decision protested;
(iv) The location and approximate time of the alleged violation;
(v) Persons involved in the alleged violation;
(vi) A statement, including a diagram of the alleged violation, if possible;
(vil) The names of witnesses who observed the alleged violation;
(viii) Rationale/summary of the facts.
d.) Head Referee will admit the protest if:
(i) It is accompanied by the fee, and
(i) It is received inside the timelines.
e.) Once a protest is received, the Head Referee will present the case to the Chair of the Competition Jury of the competition.

12.6 Composition of the Competition Jury p. 92

a.) The World Triathlon Technical Delegate for the competition appoints the members of the Competition Jury as follows:
(i) For Olympic Games and the Elite competitions of the World Triathlon Championship Finals the Competition Jury consists of five people being selected from:

The Technical Delegate or the Assistant Technical Delegate, who chairs the Competition Jury;
A member of the World Triathlon Executive Board;
A representative of the host National Federation;
A representative from the World Triathlon Technical Committee;
A representative from the World Triathlon Medical and Anti-Doping Committee.

(ii) For all the other World Triathlon Events and other Games that do not include the Olympic Games, the Competition Jury consists of three people being selected from:

~ Triathlon

The Technical Delegate or the Assistant Technical Delegate, who chairs the Competition Jury;
A member of the World Triathlon Executive Board or any World Triathlon Committees or Commissions, , or related staff, or if none are present, a member of the Continental Confederation's Executive Board or any Continental Confederation's Committees or Commission, or related staff, or LOC representative, or if none are available, a representative from the host National Federation;
A representative from the host National Federation or if none are available, a member of the World Triathlon Executive Board or any World Triathlon Committees or Commissions, or related staff, or if none are present, a member of the Continental Confederation's Executive Board or any Continental Confederation's Committees or Commission, or related staff.
(ili) Prior to the day of the athletes' briefing for the competition, all members of the Competition Jury must complete a Competition Jury online training module available on the World Triathlon Education & Knowledge Hub and obtain a completion certificate, which will remain valid until the end of the following calendar year;
(iv) The Competition Jury may invite experts to a hearing, at which they may be requested to give expert opinion;
(V) A member of the Competition Jury in an event must not also be:
Being a Technical Official in the same event other than the Technical Delegate | Assistant Technical Delegate;
Being an accredited coach in the same event;
Being an athlete competing in the same event.

12.7 Competition Jury Duties p. 93

a.) The Competition Jury decides on all protests made to it which are in compliance with the relevant protest timeline;
b.) The Competition Jury may modify the competition results, as a consequence of its decision on the protest. However, the Competition Jury may not remove the time penalty from the final time;
c.) The Chair of the Competition Jury must file written minutes for all protests within seven days of decisions reached.

12.8 Competition Jury Integrity p. 93

a.) The Competition Jury must observe the following principles:
(i) It must consider all submissions and expert opinions made to it;
(ii) Recognize that honest testimony can vary and be in conflict as a result of personal observation or recollection;
(iii) Have an open-minded approach until all evidence has been submitted;
(iv) Give equal weight to the evidence and testimony provided by all
(v) The Competition Jury's decisions to uphold or not to uphold or impose a penalty shall be based upon the standard of a comfortable satisfaction of the majority of Competition Jury members that the alleged violation has occurred.

b) Conflict of interest

(i) The Chair of the Competition Jury decides if any member has a conflict of interest;
(ii) In the event of a conflict of interest, or absence of another member, the Chair of the Competition Jury may appoint a replacement of that member;
(iii) The Chair of the Competition Jury may appoint a replacement at his/her discretion, subject to the requirements of rule 12.6 for the composition of the Competition Jury;
(iv) Following replacement of a member, the Competition Jury must have the same number of members that it originally had;
(v) The Chair of the Competition Jury has a conflict of interest in case a person linked by a first-degree relationship with the Chair of the Competition Jury may be affected by the resolution of the protest.

12.9 Competition Jury meeting p. 94

a.) The Competition Jury will meet as determined by the Chair. At least will meet:
(i) After the race briefing;
(il) One hour before the start of the event;
(iii) After the last finisher;
(iv) After the first Age-Group finisher;
(v) After the finish of the first half of the Age-Group field.
b.) Competition Jury meetings method:
(i) Competition Jury may meet in person, or online in a virtual meeting, or in combination of in person and online, as determined by the Chair.

c) Hearing procedure

(i) The protester and the respondent and/or one representative of their National Federation (if applicable) may be present;
(ii) Failure of any party to attend a hearing may result in the Competition Jury making a decision in their absence;
(iii) A representative may appear on behalf of the protester or the respondent if permitted by the chair of the Competition Jury;
(iv) The hearing will not be open to the public;
(v) The Chair of the Competition Jury will explain the hearing process and all parties' rights;
(vi) The Chair of the Competition Jury will read the protest;
(vil) The chair of the Competition Jury will determine if the protest is accepted, dependent upon it being:

Received within the relevant timeline set out in rule 12.4 and;
A matter which may be the subject of a protest as set out in rule 12.2.

(vili) The Chair of the Competition Jury presents the submitted evidence;
(ix) The Competition Jury will hear from each party;
(x) The protester and the respondent will be given adequate time to give their accounts of the incident;
(xi) If permitted by the Chair, the protester and the respondent may call witnesses, who may speak for up to three (3) minutes each;
(xii) Once the protester, respondent and any witnesses have been heard, the Competition Jury may call other parties interested or affected to speak for up to three (3) minutes each;
(xiii) The Competition Jury may invite any expert to speak;
(xiv) The Competition Jury will consider the evidence and any expert opinion and render a decision by simple majority;
(xv) The decision will be communicated immediately to the parties present and delivered in writing to the parties upon request.
d.) Written minutes of the Competition Jury meeting, including the Competition Jury's decision, along with the protest form will be submitted to World Triathlon;
e.) The $50 USD or equivalent fee will be returned to the protester in case the Competition Jury decides in favour of the protester. The $50 USD or equivalent deposit will be forwarded to World Triathlon in case the Competition Jury decides against the protester;
f.) Once a protest has been lodged with the Competition Jury, no further protest may be lodged for the same matter;
g.) The Competition Jury decisions, made in accordance with the Competition Rules, are field of play decisions;
h.) Competition Jury decisions may be appealed to the World Triathlon Tribunal.

12.10 Results revision process by the World Triathlon Technical Committee p. 95

a.) The World Triathlon Technical Committee may revise the competition results on the basis of new evidence;
b.) There is no time limit on the results revision process;
c.) Field of play decisions or any matter already dealt with by a Competition Jury may not be reopened under the results revision process;
d.) The World Triathlon Technical Committee will decide on the results revision case by maintaining or modifying the competition results;
e.) For results revision cases, the World Triathlon Technical Committee will follow the hearing procedure set out in rule 12.9 (C);
f.) Any revised competition results will be notified to the affected National Federations and athletes, and published by World Triathlon;
g.) World Triathlon Technical Committee results revision process decisions may be appealed to the World Triathlon Tribunal.