There’s a large British contingent heading to Poland this weekend for the Europe Triathlon Championships, where the city of Olsztyn will host the European Championships in paratriathlon and age group standard distance triathlon, as well as the super sprint championships for elite triathlon, U23 and junior triathletes.
Paratriathlon
Nine British paratriathletes will compete over the sprint distance in Poland including defending European champions Claire Cashmore (women’s PTS5) and Dave Ellis (men’s PTVI), who both followed-up their European golds with world titles at the end of last year.
Ellis, guided by Luke Pollard, is targeting his fifth European gold and he will be joined in the men’s PTVI race by Oscar Kelly, who has also been selected to represent Team England at this year’s Commonwealth Games. Kelly will team-up with Jamie Price as his guide having also partnered together at the British Triathlon Paratri Super Series event in Llanelli.
Alison Peasgood is another Birmingham-bound paratriathlete competing in Poland, with the Scottish paratriathlete and two-time Paralympian going in search of her fourth European title, alongside guide Hazel Macleod.
Double Tokyo 2020 Paralympic medallist George Peasgood has won gold medals at World Triathlon Para Series Yokohama and a UCI World Cup in recent weeks and he will be back on the start line in Poland on Saturday in the men’s PTS5.
Read more: Peasgood talks Yokohama and the European Championships
Also competing in the men’s PTS5 is British champion Michael Salisbury, who only started competing in paratriathlon last year and will compete at his first European Championships this weekend.
Also making their European Championships debut is Megan Richter in the women’s PTS4, although Richter is a multiple European medallist having had medal success in para-swimming before deciding to focus on paratriathlon.
Finley Jakes will compete in the men’s PTS4, having finished fifth at the European Championships in Valencia last year, which was also the same place Josh Landmann secured in the men’s PTWC, and both athletes will be back on the start line this year.
The elite paratriathlon races get underway at 7am (UK Time) on Saturday (28 May) and will be broadcast live on TriathlonLIVE, along with Saturday’s elite triathlon, U23 and junior races.
Elite / U23 / junior triathlon
Super sprint is the distance for elite triathlon, U23 and junior triathletes who will compete over a semi-final and final format for European medals, while the British junior athletes will also race together in the junior mixed relay.
Starting on Friday (27 May), racing will take place over two days with races contested over a 300m swim, 8km bike and 2km run.
Barclay Izzard is the only British triathlete competing in the senior elite races, although he will be joined on the start line by eight U23 athletes representing Great Britain, with the elite and U23 races combined.
Lining-up in the women’s U23 race will be Daisy Davies, Hollie Elliott, Sophia Green and Iona Miller, while in the men’s equivalent the British representation will be Dan Dixon, Jimmy Lund, Cameron Main and Hamish Reilly.
The junior races will follow the same format as the elite triathlon and U23 races, but, alongside the individual races, there’s also an additional event for junior athletes competing in Poland with the junior mixed relay taking place on Sunday (29 May).
The British team includes the top-ranked junior athletes from the British Triathlon Super Series event in Llanelli two weeks ago, with junior race winners Bethany Cook and Joe Sherman part of the squad of six.
Also representing Great Britain in the junior races are Lizzy Edge, Martha Calton-Seal, Osian Perrin and Ben Cumberland.
Age-Group
Over 190 age group athletes will represent the Great Britain Age-Group Team at the European Standard Distance Championships in Poland, where over 60 years will separate the youngest and oldest competitor representing Great Britain.
Whilst many athletes will be competing at an international championships for the first time, the GB Age-Group Team does include a wealth of experience, including athletes who have had success at European Championships before over the standard distance.
One of the defending European champions is Linda Russell-Bond in the female 65-69 age group, and you can read more about her story and her thoughts ahead of the European Championships here.
