It was another weekend of medal success across swim, bike, run for British triathletes and paratriathletes including a World Triathlon Cup victory for Jonny Brownlee, European champions crowned in Poland and Lucy Buckingham celebrated a middle distance win.
In the UK, the Great Britain Age-Group Team enjoyed a day of celebration at the Age-Group Celebration Cup, while Scottish national champions were crowned in aquathlon.
World Triathlon Cup Arzachena (28 May)
It was a happy return to Arzachena for Jonny Brownlee who repeated his World Triathlon Cup success from last year with victory over the same sprint distance course, getting his Paris 2024 Olympic qualification period off to the perfect start.
After exiting the swim only a handful of seconds behind the leaders, it was on the bike where Brownlee did the damage with his efforts on the first climb, creating a lead group of four who would head into transition two together with nearly a 50 second advantage.
On the run, Brownlee made his move early, striding away from the lead group within the opening kilometre of the 5km run to claim gold by 26 seconds ahead of Brazil’s Manoel Messias. Jack Willis was the next British triathlete to cross the line, finishing 24th, with Harry Leleu 46th.
In the elite women’s race, Sophie Alden showed her strength in the water as the 23-year-old was one of the first athletes to exit the swim before being part of an early breakaway on the bike. The race split up on the hilly bike course, but Alden remained within the main pack, finishing 20th at the end of the run.
Europe Triathlon Championships Olsztyn (27-29 May)
There was plenty of British medal success at the Europe Triathlon Championships, where medals were won in each of the championships taking place in Olsztyn, Poland.
Paratriathlon were the first medals to be won, although the format was changed to duathlon due to the cold water temperature. Claire Cashmore (women’s PTS5) and Dave Ellis (men’s PTVI), guided by Luke Pollard, both successfully defended their European titles with Great Britain winning five medals in total.
Alison Peasgood (women’s PTVI), guided by Brooke Gillies, and Michael Salisbury (men’s PTS5) both secured silver with George Peasgood claiming bronze (men’s PTS5).
The super sprint championships for senior, U23 and junior triathletes were able to be contested over swim, bike, run, and it included medal success for British athletes across the ages.
Barclay Izzard claimed his first senior European medal with silver in the men’s race, where Dan Dixon finished sixth overall but claimed U23 silver having been the second U23 athlete to cross the line.
Iona Miller was the highest placed British athlete in the women's senior and U23 race, finishing eighth overall, missing out on an U23 medal by just a few seconds.
Having narrowly missed out on a medal in the junior race, Ben Cumberland did end the championships with a medal after teaming up with Lizzy Edge, Joe Sherman and Bethany Cook to win bronze in the mixed junior relay.
Also competing in Poland were the Great Britain Age-Group Team who returned home from the European Standard Distance Triathlon Championships with 39 medals including 15 gold, 10 silver and 14 bronze.
IRONMAN 70.3 Kraichgau (29 May)
Olivia Mitchell was the highest placed British pro athlete at IRONMAN 70.3 Kraichgau where she finished sixth in the women’s pro race, a week after finishing fourth over the same distance in Marbella.
Tara Grosvenor was one place further back in seventh as she completed her third IRONMAN 70.3 event in four weeks having finished 13th in Mallorca and 6th in Marbella earlier this month.
Challenge St. Polten (29 May)
A week after finishing third at The Championship in Samorin, Lucy Buckingham was back on the podium for the third time this season, but this time it was the top step after a record-breaking victory at Challenge St. Pölten.
Buckingham beat the course record by more than five minutes after strong swim and bike legs had put the British triathlete in control heading onto the 21.1km run. Buckingham did see her advantage reduce due to the fast running of Australia’s Grace Thek, but the 30-year-old claimed her first Challenge win of 2022 by 41 seconds.
Like Buckingham, Will Draper was competing in back-to-back races having also raced at The Championship last weekend. At Challenge St. Pölten, Draper crossed the line 11th in the men’s pro race.
British Triathlon Age-Group Celebration Cup (29 May)
Current, previous and future Great Britain Age-Group Team members came together for a day of racing and celebration at the British Triathlon Age-Group Celebration Cup.
There were over 300 race starts throughout the day including in triathlon, duathlon, aquabike and aquathlon, as well as a mixed team relay.
Athletes earned points for their chosen Home Nation based on their finishing position in each race with England collecting the highest number of points and lifting the 2022 Age-Group Home Nations Cup.
More information about Age-Group racing, qualifiers and qualification criteria can be found by clicking on the button below.
Scottish National Aquathlon Championships (29 May)
Scottish champions were crowned at the Scottish National Aquathlon Championships on Sunday (29 May) which were hosted by Aerodynamic Triathlon Club at Irvine Open Water Sprint Aquathlon.
The overall race winners were Hannah Terrance and Cameron Kerr with national titles and medals awarded in each age group.
A full round-up can be read on the Triathlon Scotland website below.
To find out about upcoming British and Home Nation Championships click the button below.
(Image: World Triathlon / Janos M. Schmidt)
