Leeds connection for Commonwealth Games triathletes

This year will see plenty of elite swim, bike, run as World Triathlon Championship Series Leeds and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham both host individual and mixed relay triathlon.

For British athletes, and those from England in particular, the Commonwealth Games will see them race on home soil and be backed by a home crowd twice in 2022.

Recently, Alex Yee, Georgia Taylor-Brown, Jonny Brownlee and Sophie Coldwell were all announced as the first members of Team England for the Games, whilst Beth Potter was named as part of Team Scotland before Christmas. All five have history with the event and city of Leeds.

Yee, who won the men’s race in 2021 to earn his spot at the Olympics, studied and trained in the city until 2020 and Coldwell secured bronze last year on her way to selection for Birmingham.

Brownlee, Taylor-Brown and Potter all currently train in Leeds, with the city playing a key role in their success as world-class athletes.

Taylor-Brown won in 2019 having finished second the year before, with Yorkshireman Brownlee also holding two medals from races in the city. Potter secured her first top-ten World Triathlon Championship Series finish in Leeds in 2021, with the event part of a successful year for the Scot.

This year will see international quartets also take to Roundhay Park for the first time as World Triathlon Championship Series Leeds hosts sprint distance and mixed relay racing on 11 and 12 June.

Mixed relay triathlon made its mark on the Olympic Games in Tokyo last year, with Team GB’s gold medal success rounding off a Games that saw Taylor-Brown and Yee also win silver medals.

The format debuted at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014, where Team England took gold before claiming silver four years later, with mixed relay once again part of the programme in Birmingham.

Brownlee was part of both teams, with 2022 being his third Games and Potter will also be competing in her third Games, with the Scottish athlete having represented her nation in athletics in 2014 and both athletics and triathlon in 2018.

Coldwell also has Commonwealth Games experience and will be returning for her second Games having finished sixth in Gold Coast in 2018, whilst for Yee and Taylor-Brown it will be their debuts.

World Triathlon Championship Series Leeds will not only provide the opportunity to see those selected race in Britain ahead of the Commonwealth Games, it also offers the chance to take part on much of the same course that elites will compete on. For more information about the event and to enter, visit: https://leeds.triathlon.org/2022/