Long regarded as England’s ‘second
city’, Birmingham is all set to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, with the
Opening Ceremony on 28 July and an eagerly awaited men’s race at 11.30am the
following day awarding the very first medals of the Games. The stage is set for
another classic Commonwealth Games battle as triathlon makes its fifth
appearance on the schedule across a sprint distance course. The sprint-distance
course takes in a 750m swim of Powell’s Pool lake in Sutton Park before
transitioning to a fast 4-lap 20km bike through the city streets and rounding
off with a 2-lap, 5km run course back in Sutton Park. The rivalries are fierce
and Friday afternoon’s action will be relentless, and don’t miss Sunday’s Mixed
Relay and PTVI Para Triathlon action.
Men's Preview
Four years have passed since Henri
Schoeman (RSA) was triumphant on the Gold Coast and while a lot has happened in
the world since on and off the blue carpet, one thing is for certain: the 2018
champion in Australia returns to defend his title, but up against a very
different-looking start list that includes debut-making favourites for whom the
last four years have seen stratospheric rises.
Two of the men making their Commonwealth
Games debuts are also among the favourites for gold in Birmingham. Having
locked horns repeatedly since their breakthrough races at the Tokyo 2020
Olympics, Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde have also dominated WTCS racing so far in
2022 with two wins each.
Their rivalry adds an extra dimension
to the men’s race, so with the pair’s run form currently unparalleled and the
750m swim unlikely to open things up too much out of the water, whoever is able
to keep the freshest legs coming off the 20km bike could be ready to strike
gold. Throw in an unfortunate crash between them the last time Yee raced on
home soil at WTCS Leeds, and the stage is set for plenty of fireworks on
Friday, as current number one Wilde looks to silence the crowds once more by
racing off the front and dictating the action.
Looking to stand in their way are the
likes of Tyler Mislawchuk, the Canadian talent who took 12th last time out on
the Gold Coast and has been battling his way back to full fitness after an
achilles injury took him out of Olympic contention a year ago in Tokyo. Second
in the Huatulco World Cup last month, the 27-year-old will be hungry to show
what he is capable of once more at a major Games.
As always, Australia arrive with a
strong squad full of confidence, including 2018 silver medallist Jacob
Birtwhistle. While Jake has struggled to hit those heights and match the double
Series gold strike he produced back in 2019, compatriot Matthew Hauser has been
quietly building his way up to the kind of form he has threatened for so long,
landing a first WTCS podium in Hamburg after 4th place in Yokohama. The pair
formed half of the gold-winning Mixed Relay squad four years ago, and third
squad member Brandon Copeland is another face of the new generation showing
their potential in 2022.
Joining Yee for England will be
another rising talent, Samuel Dickinson, ready to make his mark after being the
reserve for Tokyo 2020 and finally putting his injuries behind him, as well as
the late replacement for injured Jonathan Brownlee, Daniel Dixon. Scotland have
the experienced Grant Sheldon alongside Loughborough-based Cameron Main, who
trains just an hour down the motorway from Sutton Park.
The South African delegation will be
spearheaded by reigning champion Schoeman even if this time around the
30-year-old remains unsure of his race sharpness as he continues along the road
back from an ankle injury that hit his Tokyo 2020 ambitions. Returning to
international competition at the PTO Canadian Open last weekend, Schoeman was
happy to have completed the course, but will still add some star quality to
proceedings and joins another rising one to watch, Jamie Riddle, who made clear
his ambitions on the World Triathlon Podcast.
Bermuda’s Tyler Butterfield takes the
prize for being the only athlete in Birmingham to have raced in triathlon’s
Commonwealth Games debut at Manchester 2002 and heads to his fourth and final
edition eager to sign off from racing with a bang. Less established triathlon
nations will also line up, with the likes of India, Ghana, Gibraltar, Malaysia
and Solomon Islands all represented and looking to add another chapter in their
respective countries’ triathlon stories this weekend.
Full start list available here. https://triathlon.org/events/start_list/2022_birmingham_commonwealth_games/567956?mc_cid=1a793c4d09&mc_eid=6139649918
Women's Preview
The first Bermudian ever to win an
Olympic gold, Flora Duffy’s place in the history books of her home island is
already secured, but being the first triathlete to successfully defend their
Commonwealth Games title would certainly warrant an extra chapter. It was
another great Emma Snowsill who won in Melbourne back in 2006, and as Duffy looks
to surpass the Australian’s record three world titles this year, another
Commonwealth crown would further underline her credentials as the greatest the
sport has ever seen.
She will have the current number one
Georgia Taylor-Brown to contend with, though, as well as a partisan crowd
getting behind the home-nation athletes. Taylor-Brown finished second behind
Duffy in Tokyo and again at last year’s WTCS Abu Dhabi, but since then, victory
in Yokohama and silvers in Leeds and Montreal have put the Brit in pole
position in the world title chase, and her current form will make her a hot
favourite again in Birmingham.
Teammate Sophie Coldwell has also
been putting together some exceptional swim-bike-run form, and after hitting
back-to-back WTCS podiums in Leeds she will love being back in front of the
home crowds and can be explosive over the sprint distance.
Scotland’s Beth Potter hit her first
WTCS podium in Hamburg and will relish another shot at a Commonwealth Games
medal – four years ago she became the first Scot to compete at the Games in
different events, grabbing 12th in triathlon having previously finished fifth
in the 10,000m back on home soil at Glasgow 2014, and her star has been in the
ascension ever since.
Nobody on the start list has more
Commonwealth Games experience Andrea Hansen (formerly Hewitt), who was third
back in Melbourne 2006, fourth in Glasgow and 13th on the Gold Coast, and she
is joined by fellow New Zealanders Nicole Van der Kaay and Ainsley Thorpe in
the quest for medals.
The 2013 World Champion Non Stanford
makes her return to the blue carpet for the first time since her top 10 finish
at last year’s WTCS Abu Dhabi, representing Wales alongside Olivia Mathias and
Issy Morris.
A strong Canadian trio of Dominika
Jamnicky, the returning Amelie Kretz and Emy Legault will be looking to make a
splash in both the individual and Mixed Relay, while Australia’s Natalie Van
Coevorden, Charlotte McShane and Sophie Linn all have the potential to deliver
eye-catching performances.
India’s Pragnya Mohan is among the
names representing the emerging triathlon nations, as athletes from the likes
of Mauritius, Namibia, Kenya and Trinidad and Tobago will also be ready to
relish their moment in the spotlight against some of the biggest names in the
sport.
For the full start lists, click here.
https://triathlon.org/events/start_list/2022_birmingham_commonwealth_games/567957?mc_cid=1a793c4d09&mc_eid=6139649918
Preview of athletes representing
smaller nations
For the likes of the home nations
(England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland), Australia, New Zealand, South
Africa and Canada, these are a major Games representing a four-yearly
opportunity to shine in the middle (usually) of an Olympic cycle.
For the many athletes on the start
lists from smaller triathlon nations such as India, Fiji, Cyprus, Mozambique,
or the Solomon Islands, the Commonwealth Games can be a once-in-a-lifetime
chance to share a start line with some of the biggest names on the circuit, to
put their sport in the spotlight at home and maybe even grab a slice of
history.
Among those on Friday’s start will be
India’s Pragnya Mohan. A national champion in 2019 and individual bronze and
Mixed Team Relay gold medallist at the South Asian Games that year, Pragnya
hits Birmingham off the back of a solid training block and brimming with
optimism for the challenge ahead.
“I am at my fittest ever and expect a
personal best in Birmingham,” says Mohan. “As some of the best female
triathletes in the world are from Commonwealth countries, I’ll be happy to get
a position in the single digits, but otherwise it will be another race with
women I have idolised, including Flora, Georgia and Non (who was at her peak
when I started in 2013).”
She will also be able to form a Mixed
Relay team alongside Adarsh Muralidharan Nair Sinimol, Vishwanath Yadav and
Sanjana Sunil Joshi, the former having also been part of that South Asian Games
victory three years ago and despite eyeing a top 6 finish on Sunday, Mohan is
under no illusion as to the challenge of growing the sport back home.
“It will be good to showcase that
there are many sports to pursue, and international success of a triathlete will
raise interest – I hope to spark that fire. People in my other profession of
Chartered Accountancy are extremely excited that a fellow CA is making it to
the Commonwealth Games!”
Danica Spiteri will represent Malta,
just as she did 8 years ago in Glasgow. Having had a baby in 2019, she has been
fighting to get back to the fitness levels she showed training in Leeds with
some of the names she will be alongside in Birmingham.
“I’d like to improve on my 15th place
in Glasgow, the biggest moment in my career, but I know that this is an
uncontrollable factor,” says Spiteri. “Going back for another Games feels
surreal… I have been working hard for the past six months. I want to make the
right decisions to be able to finish strongly. I love representing my country,
it is something money can’t buy, and the level is improving locally there. The
future looks good at home and the federation is looking towards youth-elite
development pathways, so it is exciting to see the next generation of upcoming
triathletes.”
It is a similar target that
Panayiotis Antoniou is setting himself. The Cyprus national champion is
determined to give everything he has in order to finish his first major Games
satisfied with his result.
“I am very excited but also a little
nervous to be on that start line with the top triathletes” admits Antoniou.
“One day I would like to represent my country a an Olympic Games. We have very
good facilities in Cyprus, with 8 small, local clubs and 5 or 6 coaches, so
triathlon’s popularity is increasing every year but is still at a low level.”
Representing Namibia will be Divan Du
Plooy, the 2021 Africa Triathlon Championships bronze medallist at U23 level.
With the long-term goal of qualification for LA 2028 on his mind, the
Commonwealth Games will provide both an excellent test and perfect motivation
for what it will take to realise that dream.
“Running is my top discipline, then
my brother got me into cycling. About four years ago I started swimming and
have never looked back” says Du Plooy. “Triathlon is still small in Namibia,
but we are trying hard to grow the sport and we have one club, three Level One
coaches and one Level Two. I will be competing against the biggest names in
world triathlon, - what an amazing experience to represent Namibia at such a
big event.”
Follow World Triathlon social media
channels on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok for all the latest
information from the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
ABOUT WORLD TRIATHLON
World Triathlon is the international
governing body for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of triathlon and all
related multisport disciplines around the world, including duathlon, aquathlon,
cross triathlon and winter triathlon. Triathlon made its Olympic debut in
Sydney 2000, with a third medal event, the Mixed Team Relay, added to the
programme at Tokyo 2020, while para triathlon was first added to the Paralympic
programme at Rio 2016. World Triathlon is proudly committed to the development
of the sport worldwide, with inclusion, equality, sustainability and
transparency at our core as we seek to help triathletes at all levels of the
sport to be extraordinary.
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