This year will see Britain host three international swim, bike, run events as Birmingham hosts the 2022 Commonwealth Games where individual triathlon, PTVI paratriathlon and mixed relay triathlon will feature.
Taking place every four years, the Commonwealth Games bring together nations from across the world and gives British athletes the opportunity to represent their specific home nation.
A sport-based opportunity to bring the Commonwealth together, the Games showcase the core values that unite the various nations and provide athletes the chance to compete in their sport at a major sporting event.
A home games for England for the first time since Manchester 2002, it will be eight years since Glasgow 2014 and the last time the Games came to Britain when Birmingham 2022 kicks off at the end of July.
The opening ceremony will take place on Thursday 28 July, with individual men’s and women’s triathlon taking place the following day, making them some of the first medals to be won at the Games.
PTVI paratriathlon and mixed relay triathlon will take place two days later on Sunday 31 July, with all the action from both days taking place in and around Sutton Park.
All the individual racing will be raced over the sprint distance (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run), with the mixed relay triathlon seeing the quartets complete a 300m swim, 5km bike and 2km run each.
Triathlon was first introduced to the Commonwealth Games in 2002, with mixed relay added in 2014. The first time paratriathlon was competed across at the Games was in 2018 at the Gold Coast where the PTWC category featured.
Beth Potter was the first British athlete to be named as part of their home nation’s squad, with the Scot commenting: “I am delighted to be selected for Team Scotland.
“It will be great to represent the nation for a third Commonwealth Games, and there will be an extra buzz about having another one on UK soil.
“I was relatively new to triathlon coming into the Gold Coast, but it’s been my main focus since then and I’ve been enjoying my training in Leeds.”
At the last Games in 2018, Team England won both the gold medals in the PTWC races thanks to Jade Jones-Hall and Joe Townsend. England’s Jess Learmonth also won silver in the women’s individual, with Learmonth teaming up with Vicky Holland, Alastair and Jonny Brownlee for silver in the mixed relay. Scotland’s Marc Austin won bronze in the men’s individual.
In the build up to the Games, the Queen’s Baton Relay sees the uniquely designed baton travel the Commonwealth with a message from the Queen which will be read out at the opening ceremony.
The baton will arrive back in the British Isles in June, visiting Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Scotland and Wales before travelling around England and arriving in Birmingham.
Also taking place around the sporting action will be the Birmingham 2022 Festival, a celebration of creativity and opportunity for artists, a youth programme and a recognition programme for those who make a difference to their communities in the West Midlands.
Find out more about Birmingham 2022 by clicking on the button below.
