The Great Britain elite triathlon team won two bronze medals on the final day of the ETU Triathlon European Championships in Kitzbuhel. Racing in the mixed relays, the junior and the senior teams both achieved medal success.

The senior team of Hollie Lawrence, Marc Austin, Lois Rosindale and Matt Sharp each completed a super sprint triathlon and finished third behind the Italians and Germans.

Sharp had the pressure of doing the final leg. He started in joint third place with the Hungarian team after a very strong leg by Rosindale.

Sharp did the majority of the work on the bike and exited transition just behind the Hungarian, but was by far the stronger runner. So much so, in fact, that he was not far from catching the Germans for silver despite than having been a minute ahead at the start of the run.

The junior team of Sophie Coldwell, Alex West, Sarah Hodgson and Luke Penney also claimed bronze behind Germany and France. Penney’s tactical awareness on the final run saw the team overcome a strong Russian quartet and secure the medal.

British Triathlon Performance Director, Brendan Purcell, said: “It’s been a great weekend and I’m really pleased with the team working and tactical intelligence shown by the juniors and the seniors in the relays.

“They had an opportunity and they took it. We’re asking them to learn how to execute performances to maximise their potential and everyone did that today.

He added: “Mixed relays have more and more significance now. The ITU mixed relay world championships are next month in Hamburg, a title Great Britain has won twice, and relays will feature in the Commonwealth Games. Ultimately we’re pushing for this to be an Olympic event in 2020 and I think today showed just how exiting relays can be.”

Results

Senior:
1.     Italy, 1:38.20
2.     Germany, 1:38.30
3.     Great Britain, 1:38.43

Junior
1.     Germany, 1:39.28
2.     France, 1:39.45
3.     Great Britain, 1:41.44