George has represented ParalympicsGB at two Paralympic Games, claiming paratriathlon silver and para-cycling bronze at Tokyo 2020. He is based at the Loughborough Triathlon Performance Centre.
The double European medallist and four-time national paratriathlon champion has recorded several ITU and ETU medal winning performances, including golds at World Triathlon Para Series events.
Coming from a family of high-achieving triathletes, George’s brother Jack is not only married to paratriathlete, Alison Peasgood, but has also represented the Great Britain Age Group team himself in both triathlon and duathlon. Additionally, George’s mum has completed ten consecutive London Marathons and his dad got into triathlon following a running injury. Both parents have completed Ironman triathlons.
George first started triathlon in 2009 following a leg lengthening operation. Two years later, in 2011, he was classified as a paratriathlete at a British Triathlon Talent ID day. In 2013, he won his first major medal, a bronze at the ITU World Championships in London - at 17 years old - that made him one of the youngest paratriathlon medallists. The classification structure was changed after that, making George’s class much more challenging, but after five more years of hard work, he won a global medal again in 2018.
Throughout 2015, George consistently made the podium and achieved his first major event gold medal at the GBR National Championships, finishing in a time of 01:07:18.
George went on to his first Paralympic Games as the youngest member of the paratriathlon team in Rio 2016. He was first out of the water and led during the bike section. He was overtaken during the run, his weakest discipline due to his impairment, and finished seventh.
Most athletes in his classification have arm, rather than leg impairments. This means that George usually gains a lead during the swim section of races, but he is at a disadvantage during the run due to his leg impairments. This makes his classification particularly exciting to watch as the faster runners come through in the latter stages.
Major Results
In 2017, George reached the podium at the Kitzbühel ETU Triathlon European Championships as well as placing 4th in the ITU Grand Final Rotterdam.
George had a breakthrough season in 2018. He made significant improvements to his running, making him much harder to catch. He finished on the podium at every international event he started during the season, including winning ITU World Championship bronze on the Gold Coast. As well as triathlon, George has also represented Great Britain in paracycling and won a UCI Time Trial World Cup Silver in 2018.
This success continued into 2019, as George was victorious in the PTS5 race at the Great Britain Paratriathlon National Championships. He also took home a silver medal at the Milan ITU World Paratriathlon Series and bronze at both the Groupe Copley World Paratriathlon Series Montreal and the Tokyo ITU Paratriathlon World Cup.
2021 was another medal-winning year for George which began with victory at World Triathlon Para Series Yokohama. Impressing in both paratriathlon and para-cycling, he added the title of men’s C4 time-trial world champion to his list of achievements in June 2021.
It was an anxious build-up to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics for George following an untimely ankle injury, but, despite the build-up, he came away from the Games with two medals across two different sports.
After claiming silver in paratriathlon, George returned to the Paralympic podium just two days later, claiming bronze in the men’s road cycling C4 time trial. His bronze marked a landmark 1000 medals for British athletes across both the Paralympic and Olympic Games, summer and winter, since National Lottery funding was introduced in 1997.
George’s medal-winning heroics continued a few weeks later, claiming silver at the Europe Triathlon Championships in Valencia.
Hear more about George and his journey into paratriathlon on the podcast below.
