Marisol Casado feels Hamburg is the best host city on the World Triathlon Championship Series circuit ©World Triathlon

World Triathlon President Marisol Casado has hailed Hamburg for setting the benchmark when it comes to staging the sport's events as it prepares for its 21st edition.

Casado, an International Olympic Committee member, feels the city's layout and geographical features lend itself perfectly for the sport to be moulded to it.

Hamburg, Germany's second-largest city with a population of more than 1.9 million, held its first triathlon in 2002.

At that time the global governing body was known as the International Triathlon Union.

The city is also the only location to feature in every edition of the World Triathlon Championship Series (WTCS), which began in 2009.

"I always feel at home here in Hamburg," Casado said.

"For me it really is the role model for all triathlon events in different cities.

Marisol Casado claims triathlon is
Marisol Casado claims triathlon is "perfect" in Hamburg ©World Triathlon

"The adaptation of triathlon into the city is perfect.

"We do not want the city to adapt to triathlon, but instead we want triathlon to adapt to the city.

"It is perfect in this place."

Hamburg is staging the Sprint and Relay World Championships from today until Sunday (July 16) which features the super-sprint format for the first time.

The city centre course has been shortened for the new discipline and will see athletes start from a pontoon in the Kleine Alster before they swim around the Binnenalster lake for a total of 300 metres.

A flat yet technically demanding cycle then follows with three laps of 2.5 kilometres with several tight turns, two of which are 180 degrees.

A 1.75km run ends the course in front of the Rathausmarkt.

The Hamburg stop of the World Triathlon Championship Series is Hamburg's biggest event in the opinion of Andy Grote ©Getty Images
The Hamburg stop of the World Triathlon Championship Series is Hamburg's biggest event in the opinion of Andy Grote ©Getty Images

"It is the most important event we have in Hamburg," said head of Hamburg's Ministry of the Interior and Sport Andy Grote.

"It is great to have all the international teams. 

"We can see the countries, we can feel the international spirit in our city and we just love that.

"There is more attention, it is bigger than previous years, and there is a little bit more of everything."

The Sprint and Relay World Championships, which are also part of the WTCS, began today in Hamburg with the Parade of Nations.

It saw national delegations marching through the street before congregating just off the Jungfernstieg road where the Expo is taking place with an array of pop-up stalls selling local food.