Action continues in Hamburg with the World Triathlon Mixed Relay Series

by Courtney Akrigg on 06 Jul, 2019 10:30

The action continues in Hamburg with the unpredictable play of the ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championship on Sunday, where the world’s leading teams will have the opportunity to battle for team pride and supremacy.

The teams will line up for the 300m swim, 7km bike and 1.7km run course, knowing that explosive power is often the winning formula across this format. The start list features 15 teams, all of them vying for ranking points towards Olympic qualification, with Triathlon Mixed Relay set to make its debut in Tokyo 2020.

Hamburg hosts the third stop of the Mixed Relay series following a thrilling start to the season in Abu Dhabi and Nottingham, with the Series finale to be held in Edmonton, Canada.

The strong squads of four will stretch themselves to deliver for their country, but the Series rules mean that the composition of the teams can be changed up to two hours before the race start. Regardless the shorter distances and full-tilt dives, after the athletes tag, are always crowd and fan favourites.

Team Australia will line-up first, made up of a new-look mixed relay team starting in Hamburg, made up of Emma Jeffcoat, Aaron Royle, Natalie Van Coevorden and 2019 elite men’s Hamburg individual champion and astonishing runner Jake Birtwhistle, who will take the final leg of the race in a bid to ensure their spot on the podium.

After fighting to remain in the top 10 in the mixed relay in Nottingham, the Americans will be looking for redemption and have selected Taylor Spivey, Eli Hemming, current World Triathlon Series leader Katie Zaferes and Matthew McElroy to race.

Team France claimed the Mixed Relay honours in Hamburg in 2018 and have announced a star-studded team to line-up on Sunday, featuring Emilie Morier, Leo Bergere, 2019 silver medallist in the elite women’s individual race Cassandre Beaugrand and the man to watch on the Series circuit Vincent Luis.

After a show-stopping performance in Nottingham, Team Great Britain will be the ones to beat but this time the team includes Olympian Jonny Brownlee in the mix. Jessica Learmonth (who didn’t race in the individual race), Georgia Taylor-Brown and rising star Alex Yee will be set for the fast paced tagging battle.

Team Canada, who produced a fourth place finish in Nottingham, will be ready to strike on Sunday with a strong-looking squad including Amelie Kretz, Tyler Mislawchuk, Joanna Brown and Alexis Lepage, ready to represent.

New Zealand is made up of the fresh, emerging talent on the Series circuit and welcomes Ainsley Thorpe, Taylor Reid, Nicole Van der Kaay and sprint specialist Hayden Wilde to the start-line.

Teams from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium will all be eager to make an impact across the powerful format, especially with the likes Belgian’s Jelle Geens, who produced a firing set-up in the elite men’s individual race, earning the bronze medal.

Follow the race and tune into www.triathlonLIVE.tv to watch the ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World event this Sunday, 7 July and enjoy the exclusive pre-show live entertainment from Hamburg with interviews with the teams, behind the scenes, special guests and exclusive content, from 9.00am local time.