The next generation of swim, bike, run talent led the British successes across the weekend with four medals won at the Europe Triathlon Youth Championships, while there were also two wins at Europe Triathlon Para Cup Bari.
Medal successes continued at Super League Triathlon Malibu, Europe Triathlon Multisport Championships and over the middle distance at PTO Tour US Open and IRONMAN 70.3 Dresden.
Europe Triathlon Youth Championships Festival La Boule
Great Britain returned from the Europe Triathlon Youth Championships Festival with four medals including mixed relay silver.
There were two British athletes on the Youth women’s podium with Lauren Mitchell, one of the youngest athletes on the start list, pushing winner Lea Houart of France all the way to the line to secure silver with Millie Breese claiming bronze.
Brandon Pye earned bronze in the Youth men’s race, recording the quickest run of the day, to secure his place on the podium.
Oliver Conway also reached the A final, finishing 16th, with Christo Chilton placing 25th in the B final. Eve Whitaker was 11th in the Youth women’s A final.
Pye, Mitchell, Conway and Breese then teamed-up on Sunday in the mixed relay with the Great Britain quartet claiming silver to end the Championships with four medals overall.
Europe Triathlon Para Cup Bari
Mel Nicholls and Colin Wallace both won gold at Europe Triathlon Para Cup Bari where Louis Rolfe MBE was also on the podium at his first event representing Great Britain in paratriathlon.
After victory at the start of the month at World Triathlon Para Cup Alhandra, Nicholls was back on the top step of the podium in the women’s PTWC, with the race changed to a duathlon.
All three British athletes only competed in their first paratriathlon event earlier this year and it was a first international win for British men’s PTS3 champion Colin Wallace, who won by over six minutes.
The men’s PTS2 race saw Rolfe end his first international appearance on the podium with the Paralympic para-cycling champion crossing the line second to earn silver.
Europe Triathlon Multisport Championships Bilbao
Over 1,200 athletes will be representing Great Britain at the Europe Triathlon Multisport Championships in Bilbao this week and it’s already been a successful start in both sprint and standard distance duathlon.
Solomon Okrafo-Smart won silver in the junior men’s race to pick-up his first medal at an international event, while world silver medallist Adrian Howden became European paraduathlon champion in the men’s PTS4.
There were also numerous medal successes for the Great Britain Age-Group Team, with 21 members of the team becoming European champion in their age group among a total medal haul of 75 medals across both the sprint and standard distance duathlon championships.
Super League Triathlon Malibu
Georgia Taylor-Brown battled back from a crash to secure another podium at Super League Triathlon Championship Series Malibu as British triathletes continue to be at the forefront of the racing, which this time was over the Eliminator format.
Taylor-Brown crossed the line first in the opening stage and was leading stage two before crashing on the bike leg. Showing true grit and determination, the Olympic gold and silver medallist fought back to end the third event of this year’s Super League Triathlon Championship Series in third.
Beth Potter (seventh) and Non Stanford (eighth) both placed in the top-10 in Malibu with Kate Waugh finishing 11th and Sophia Green 13th. A bike mechanical leading to a crash ended Sian Rainsley’s race early, while Jess Fullagar’s Super League debut came to an end after stage two as one of the athletes who were eliminated.
The men’s race saw Dan Dixon towards the front of the race, including leading the field out of the final swim, before crossing the line fourth to move into the top-eight in the overall standings. With Jonny Brownlee withdrawing ahead of the race due to the illness, Chris Perham was the other British athlete competing but was eliminated after stage one.
PTO Tour US Open
Lucy Charles-Barclay continued her comeback from injury with third place at the inaugural PTO Tour US Open which saw athletes compete over a 2km swim, 80km bike and 18km run.
Charles-Barclay led throughout the swim and entered into transition two in second before being passed by race winner Ashleigh Gentle and crossing the line in third. Holly Lawrence was the next athlete to finish in fourth, with Kat Matthews also finishing in the top-10 in ninth.
Ruth Astle was 19th with both Fenella Langridge and India Lee recording DNFs. Tom Bishop was the only British representative in the men’s race, finishing 30th.
IRONMAN 70.3 Dresden
There was another podium finish for Nikki Bartlett as she finished second at IRONMAN 70.3 Dresden.
Bartlett, who finished second at IRONMAN Germany earlier this year, posted the quickest bike split of the day to lead heading into transition and went onto end the race in second.
Thomas Davis was the only British finisher in the men’s pro race, crossing the line in 14th, with both James Scott-Farrington and Joshua Lewis not finishing.
Triathlon Scotland National Cross Triathlon Championships
Scottish national champions in cross triathlon were crowned at Aviemore Triathlon where athletes raced on terrain in the Scottish Highlands to win national titles and medals across the age groups.
Triathlon Scotland’s National Cross Triathlon Championships was one of the final opportunities to become national champion in 2022, but there are still a couple of upcoming Championships left this year with the 2023 Championships calendar to be announced soon.
