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Eight years after Glasgow 2014, the Commonwealth Games will return to British soil this summer, with Birmingham 2022 the host of ‘The Friendly Games’.
Just as it did in Glasgow, triathlon will gain particular focus as the Women’s Individual event will be the first medal event across all sports on the first day of competition.
Will a British athlete be able to repeat the feat of Jodie Stimpson in 2014 and take the gold? It’s certainly possible, though with reigning Olympic and defending Commonwealth Games champion, Flora Duffy, set to race, that won’t be an easy task.
The men’s race will be hard fought too, with Olympic medallists Alex Yee (ENG) and Hayden Wilde (NZL) among the top contenders. You can’t rule out defending champion Henri Schoeman (RSA) either, while an Olympic gold medal winning performance from Jonathan Brownlee in the Mixed Relay proved that he is still among the very best in the sport.
Event Schedule
- Friday 29th July 2022: Women and Men Individual events
- Sunday 31st July 2022: Mixed Relay and Paratriathlon events
Sprint Distance
Up to and including the 2014 event in Glasgow, all of the Commonwealth Games Triathlon events were contested over the Olympic/Standard Distance of 1.5km swim, 40km bike and a 10km run.
This changed in Gold Coast (and will be the case for Birmingham also), with Sprint distance – 750m / 20km / 5km – now being the race format. All of the individual events – Women, Men and Paratriathlon – will race over the same distances.
Things are slightly different for Mixed Relay, where national teams are made up of two men and two women. Each individual completes swim, bike and run legs before tagging the next athlete. The teams must complete the race in the following order: male-female-male-female.
The leg completed by each athlete completes consists of a 250m swim, a 7km bike and a 1.5km run.
Commonwealth Games Triathlon Winners
In addition to the gold medal winners below, individual triathlon first appeared – as a demonstration event – at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland. There were two home winners there, courtesy of Erin Baker and Rick Wells.
Individual Women
- Manchester 2002: Carol Montgomery (CAN)
- Melbourne 2006: Emma Snowsill (AUS)
- Delhi 2010: Triathlon not part of programme
- Glasgow 2014: Jodie Stimpson (ENG)
- Gold Coast 2018: Flora Duffy (BER)
Individual Men
- Manchester 2002: Simon Whitfield (CAN)
- Melbourne 2006: Brad Kahlefeldt (AUS)
- Delhi 2010: Triathlon not part of programme
- Glasgow 2014: Alistair Brownlee (ENG)
- Gold Coast 2018: Henri Schoeman (RSA)
Mixed Team Relay
- Glasgow 2014: Team England
- Gold Coast 2018: Team Australia
Paratriathlon
- Gold Coast 2018: PTWC category – Joe Townsend (ENG) and Jade Jones (ENG)
Triathlon at Birmingham 2022
There will be five triathlon events held as part of the Commonwealth Games Triathlon schedule at Birmingham 2022:
- Individual Women
- Individual Men
- Mixed Team Relay
- Paratriathlon Women
- Paratriathlon Men
The Mixed Relay was first introduced to the schedule at Glasgow 2014 and proved to be a hugely popular spectacle for both triathlon and general sports fans. The format again received wide acclaim following its debut at Olympic Games level at Tokyo 2020. The British team there – Learmonth, Brownlee, Taylor-Brown, Yee – could well be seen again, this time in Team England colours.
This will also be the second time that Paratriathlon has featured. Four years ago in Tokyo, the selected category was PTWC (Wheelchair). In Birmingham there will again only be one category contested, but this time it will be PTVI (Visually Impaired). In the PTVI category, athletes will race alongside a Guide throughout the race (of the same nationality and gender), with the bike section completed on a tandem.
