Alanya hosts the 35th edition of its international triathlon this weekend, with more than 600 athletes registered for races on Saturday and Sunday, 24-25 October, the Anadolu Agency (AA) reported on Friday evening.
Organisers said the turnout is the highest in the event’s history. The triathlon is organised by the Turkish Triathlon Federation together with Alanya Municipality and was presented at a press conference at the Alanya Culture Centre on Friday.
Four competitions in one weekend
The programme combines four separate events: the Alanya Public Triathlon, open to amateur participants; the Alanya Triathlon Age Group Türkiye Final; a round of the 2026 European Triathlon Cup; and a Paratriathlon World Cup race.
According to the figures announced, 108 elite athletes from 25 countries will line up in the European Cup, while the paratriathlon race has drawn 80 athletes from 22 countries, the maximum field allowed. A further 283 athletes will compete in the age-group categories, whose races start in front of the Kızılkule (Red Tower), the landmark tower on Alanya’s harbour.
A triathlon combines swimming, cycling and running in a single race. The organisers did not publish race distances or road closure details in the press release; residents and visitors near the harbour and the seafront should expect traffic arrangements around the course on both days.
A long-running fixture for the resort
Federation President Bayram Yalçınkaya said the event’s 35-year history reflects the city’s sporting culture, and said he would race himself this year to mark the anniversary. Alanya Mayor Osman Tarık Özçelik said the city had played an important role in making the sport known in Türkiye, according to AA.
Organisers also stressed that the race makes a significant contribution to the local economy. The weekend falls after the peak summer season, when international sports events help hotels, restaurants and shops in coastal resorts extend the tourist year into the autumn. Officials from World Triathlon and the European Triathlon Union, including World Triathlon operations director Alpar Nagy, attended Friday’s presentation.
Antalya province, of which Alanya is a district, has had another strong year for foreign arrivals, as our report on Antalya’s foreign visitors in the first nine months of 2026 shows, and traffic through the region’s airports is tracked in the latest January-September passenger figures. For those considering a longer stay, our guide to living in Alanya covers neighbourhoods, costs and practicalities, and the wider Antalya guide looks at the province as a whole.
Sources
Photo: Georgii Eletskikh / Unsplash License, via Unsplash
