Britain’s elite mixed triathlon relay teams finished off the Geneva ETU European Championship with a bronze medal in the senior event and seventh place in the junior race.

Britain’s team of Jodie Stimpson, Matt Sharp, Lucy Hall and Tom Bishop were in contention right from the start over the super sprint distance course and battled with strong French and Swiss teams for the medals.

Each athlete completes a mini triathlon before handing over to their team mate. This is an event that the sport hopes to see included in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

French tactics included David Hauss, fourth place finisher at the London 2012 Olympic Games, running barefoot for his final 1600m run. This paid off with the French finishing ten seconds ahead of the Swiss team.

The junior team of Sophie Alden, Jimmy Kershaw, Olivia Mathias and James Teagle gained valuable experience finishing seventh in a race again won by the French.

British Triathlon Performance Director, Brendan Purcell, said: “It was good to finish off the weekend with another medal. It was another racing opportunity for Jodie Stimpson after her injury, and for the teams as a whole it was good experience. Relays are so quick that you’ve got to get everything right, and there were some learning points which we’ll take away.”

Next weekend sees more relay action at the ITU World Championship event in Hamburg alongside the ITU World Triathlon Hamburg. Great Britain are the defending champions, but will miss the injured Jonathan Brownlee, who has been a key member of the team in previous British victories.

Senior Mixed Relay: 200m swim, 6.6km bike, 1.6km run

1. France, 1:25:21
2. Switzerland, 1:25:30
3. Great Britain, GBR, 1:25:31

Junior Mixed Relay: 200m swim, 6.6km bike, 1.6km run

1. France, 1:28:37
2. Germany, 1:28:59
3. Denmark, 1:29:14
7. Great Britain, 1:31:18