Congratulations on our best ever Olympic results from British Triathlon Chair Ian Howard & CEO, Jack Buckner: "Congratulations to our medallists, the rest of the Olympic triathlon team and all support staff. Alistair and Jonny Brownlee put on a stunning performance to win gold and silver, and Vicky Holland followed them with a wonderful bronze medal on Saturday to seal Great Britain’s best ever Olympic triathlon results."
Non Stanford followed Vicky for a superb fourth place, agonisingly close to winning a medal, but 1st ,2nd ,3rd and 4th is a fantastic set of results which put Team GB at the top of the triathlon medals table and contributed to the overall medals table, in which Team GB finished an unprecedented second overall and exceeded the London 2012 medals total.
The contribution of Helen Jenkins and Gordon Benson should be recognised in the qualification process, event build up and on race day. Over the whole Olympic period they have contributed fully to the final results, as well as the positive culture within the British team.
These successes are testament to the hard work of the British Triathlon performance team, led by Brendan Purcell, our performance director, and Ben Bright the head coach. Over the last four years they have worked with a broad group of triathletes and coaches to establish a performance environment that is the envy of the rest of the world.
The programme is built around national centres in Leeds and Loughborough, working with further bases in Scotland and Wales. The work alongside Malcolm Brown and the team in Leeds is a case study in how a national governing body can work with world-leading coaches and remarkable athletes to achieve success.
The triathlon venue on Copacabana Beach attracted huge crowds and provided a stunning backdrop that will long live in the hearts and minds of all those who watched. We hope the crowds will come out once more when Paratriathlon makes its Paralympic debut at the same venue next month.
More than 4.4 million people watched the men’s race via the BBC, and front page headlines were made by our athletes.
Inspired by Rio, newcomers to the sport can create their personal triathlon challenge with #YourGOTRI at gotri.org/yourgotri. The results from this campaign are already exceeding our expectations, thank you to everyone involved.
Since the London Olympics the number of triathlon events has increased by 63% from 2012 to 2016, with on average 24 events per week across Great Britain. Growth has been seen across all demographics, particularly amongst women, and 169% growth amongst young people aged 16-18. The challenge now is to maximise the impact of the Rio Olympics.
We'd like to recognise the hard work from staff across all Home Nations that goes on before, during and after the games to keep the sport performing, developing and growing.
Thanks also to the volunteers, race organisers and our commercial partners who work across triathlon. You are all part of the success that the sport is enjoying currently.
Rio 2016 Olympic Games triathlon results:
GOLD: Alistair Brownlee
SILVER: Jonathan Brownlee
BRONZE: Vicky Holland
