The 2010 Vila Nova de Gaia ETU Triathlon U-23 and Youth European Championships are kicking off in Portugal tomorrow (August 28).
Amongst the GB team are Hollie Avil and Jonathan Brownlee. He became World sprint champion last weekend in Lausanne, and Avil will be looking to add the European Under-23 title to her World Under-23 title success back in 2009.
Hollie is Britain’s sole female representative in the women’s Under 23 event. The 20-year old won the World Under-23 title on the Gold Coast in Melbourne last September pipping fellow Brits Jodie Stimpson and Vicky Holland to the winning post.
The youngster from Northampton has had an incredible couple of years. Having dominated the European and World Junior Championships in 2007, she started 2008 with third and second place finishes in her debut World Cup races.
British Triathlon Performance Director, Heather Williams said:
“The ETU Triathlon Under-23 and Youth Championships are an important spring board for our athletes as the Youths gain their first international experiences and the Under-23’s make the transition from junior to senior level.
“The Under 23 race will be very competitive as some of the athletes who will race this weekend, will race as seniors at the World Championships in Budapest. The women’s section has Sapunova (Ukraine) and Mazetti (Italy) – so it’s going to be extremely tough.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
Related Stories:
Sportsister meets Catriona Morrison
Triathlon: Helen Jenkins cements fourth in world rankings
Triathlon: Jodie Swallow finishes second in Hungary
……………………………………………………………………………………………
“The course features a tough bike section, so we’ll be looking for our athletes to swim well to put themselves into a strong position on the bike.”
Racing in the youth men’s and women’s relay events the GE Great Britain Triathlon Team will feature our young starlets of the future racing over the sprint distance in a relay format – 300m swim, 10km bike and 2.5km run.
At international level, Great Britain boasts six current World Champions amongst a strong squad of world-ranked elite tri-athletes who regularly achieve international success and has some outstanding young talent emerging from its youth programmes. The GB team are hoping for even more home-grown winners at this competition.
14-year old Sky Draper will be joined by Maddie Winzer, Georgie Taylor-Brown and Sophie Coldwell, as the quartet get to experience their first taste of international competition.
The Women’s event starts at 14:00 (local time) in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal tomorrow (August 28) whilst the youth women’s relay commences at 14:30.
Visit the new triathlon resource website for more info: www.britishtriathlonmedia.org/. Or the official event website: www.triathlon.org/events
Lisa Warman, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
