Brighton and Hove Triathlon 2020 have secured the ITU World Championship qualifier for the 2021 World Championships in Bermuda, the only qualifier offering a sea swim.
Due to unprecedented demand the 2019 event sold out early with entries reaching 1600 competitors.
Race Director John Lunt said, “We are honoured to be given the ITU qualifier status in Brighton once again. 2020 will be the fifth year for us, in what is a very important Olympic year.”
John added, “The benefit of the Brighton course for the qualifier competitors is that it offers a 5km loop on a wide, 2-lane, closed road. The course is flat and very fast and multiple laps allows easy spectator viewing. We are also the only qualifier with a sea swim and the only event with a mass start. What this means for competitors is that they can see who they are racing against from the outset.”
Santi Brage, Chair of the BTF South East Region & Chair of Bri Tri said, “Increased participation in triathlon is one of the major objectives of the South East Region. In a very short space of time Brighton & Hove Triathlon has proved that a main event in this area has attracted not just experienced triathletes, but also many new people to the sport. I’m delighted this is in our region and I know we will continue to work closely with the event team in order to continue to boost our sport in the area.”
Verity Miles, Age-Group Coordinator for The British Triathlon Federation said, “Brighton and Hove Triathlon was awarded a Qualifier event as the organisers submitted a bid detailing strong evidence of the positive race experience they can provide. We’re pleased to award them an ITU Age-Group Qualifier for the 2021 World Championships. It is great to see an annual event, which features a draft-legal race and sees hundreds of athletes enter year-on-year.”
British Triathlon Regional Development Manager Jen Granger said, “The region is delighted to host a qualifier for the World Championship. This flagship event brings a lot of kudos to the region especially as they are also focussed on introducing multi-sport to children”.