World Triathlon has approved their new qualification system ahead of IOC approval ©Getty Images

World Triathlon's Executive Board has approved the sport's new Olympic and Paralympic qualification systems for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, pending approval from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). 

After a teleconference yesterday, the board approved the principles for the qualification system, which has been froze due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Once the new system is approved by the IOC and IPC, it will be communicated to all the athletes, coaches and National Federations.

It also gave the green light to postpone the World Triathlon Rules review until the end of 2021 as proposed by the technical committee, as well as extended the certification of International Triathlon Union (ITU) officials by one more year.

Elsewhere, the financial group is continuing to monitor the situation surrounding the coronavirus and the economic impact it will have on World Triathlon's finances.

World Triathlon have currently suspended all activity until June 30 and has an operational working group in place to work with the five Continental Confederations to resume events once the pandemic is over.

There have been more than 1.62 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, resulting in the deaths of over 97,000 people.