The beginning of the year is always a time when diaries come in useful and plans are made for the year ahead. If you are an Elite athlete – Senior / Junior / Youth / Para – then today’s release of the 2019 British Triathlon Elite Competition Calendar will be one for you to read, digest and take note off. The full update from British Triathlon is provided below.
Key bullet points:
- After three years, a senior British Triathlon Super Series returns to the calendar. Six events, starting with the British Elite Duathlon Championships on 7th April.
- Mallory Park, home for the past couple of years to the British Triathlon Under 20’s Festival remains, but is expanded to become the British Triathlon Big Weekend over two days (7th/8th September).
- That Big Weekend event will host the British Elite Sprint Distance Championships.
- In addition, the Accenture British Triathlon Mixed Relay Cup (held in Nottingham in 2017 and London in 2018), will move to the Mallory Park venue as part of that British Triathlon Big Weekend.
- Not 100% confirmed, but almost certainly with the individual Sprint Distance Championships on Saturday 7th September and the relay on Sunday 8th September.
- The British Paratriathlon Championships will be held at Dorney Lake at the Arctic One Tri and Para-Tri Festival on 27th May, which hosted a Paratriathlon World Cup event last year.
- The current Youth (15-16) and Junior (17,18,19) categories have replaced by Youth A (15-16), Youth B (17) and Junior (18-19) within the British Triathlon Youth and Junior Super Series rankings.
2019 British Triathlon Elite Competition Calendar released
British Triathlon reveal extensive 2019 competition calendar for elite triathletes and paratriathletes, culminating in two-day British Championship showcase at the British Triathlon Big Weekend.
The British Triathlon Super Series will return to the calendar in 2019 after a three-year absence, offering a high-quality draft-legal race series for Britain’s top senior performers.
The six-event series kicks off in April with the British Duathlon Championships at Bedford Autodrome. It’ll travel west to make it’s first of three stops in South Wales, reaching Llanelli in May. The first weekend in June will see the Series reach Blenheim, followed in quick succession by Cardiff and Parc Bryn Bach. The series finale will be staged at East Midland’s Mallory Park come September, where final points will be up for grabs.
A long-time host of the British Triathlon Under 20’s Festival, in 2019 Mallory Park will stage top domestic level racing opportunities for TriStar athletes all the way to senior elite performers. The two-day festival of multisport, dubbed the British Triathlon Big Weekend, will round off the Performance Pathway season on 7-8 September. Alongside the Inter-Regional Championships, a key date on the calendar for Britain’s youngest talent, the weekend will also feature the third edition of the annual Accenture British Triathlon Mixed Relay Cup, where British Triathlon Performance Centre quartets go head-to-head against one another in the sport’s newest Olympic discipline.
2019 will also see the British Triathlon Youth and Junior Super Series return to the spotlight once more. With seven locations confirmed, action begins with the Performance Assessment Weekend in March. A nationwide spread of events will see athletes then travel to Wales, Blenheim, Leeds, Eton, Durham and Leicestershire; offering a number of high-level racing opportunities for talented youngsters, aimed at supporting their athlete development and aiding preparation for international competition.
To facilitate the transition between youth and junior racing, 2019 will see the introduction of an additional British Triathlon Youth and Junior Super Series ranking category; with champions to be crowned in Youth A (athletes aged 15-16), Youth B (athletes aged 17) and Junior (athletes aged 18-19).
With 18 months until Tokyo 2020, Britain’s paratriathlon talent will also be offered three opportunities on home soil at which they can hone their skills. The British Paraduathlon Championships mark the start of the domestic season in April, followed by Sospan Sprint Triathlon Llanelli early May. Fast-forward two weeks and the Arctic One Tri and Para-Tri Festival welcomes aspiring British Paratriathlon Champions to the stage at Eton Dorney.
Andy Salmon, British Triathlon CEO, said: “We have a phenomenal amount of talent in Great Britain and it’s vital that we continue to nurture this by providing racing opportunities that challenge athletes to be their very best. I believe the 2019 Elite Competition Calendar does just that and we should expect to witness some exciting things this coming season.”
The calendar announcement shows British Triathlon’s investment in the talent of tomorrow, providing an elite level platform for Britain’s top athletes on home soil. The British Triathlon Super Series has played a part in the rise to success of a number of international stars, including Olympic heroes, Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee and Commonwealth silver medallist, Jess Learmonth.
British Triathlon Super Series
Bedford Autodrome Duathlon (British Elite Duathlon Championships) – Sunday 7 April 2019
Sospan Sprint Triathlon Llanelli – Saturday 11 May 2019
Bloodwise Blenheim Palace Triathlon – Saturday 1 – Sunday 2 June 2019
Cardiff Triathlon – Sunday 23 June 2019
Parc Bryn Bach – Saturday 3 August 2019
The British Triathlon Big Weekend – Saturday 7 – Sunday 8 September 2019
British Triathlon Youth & Junior Super Series
Performance Assessment Weekend – Saturday 30 – Sunday 31 March 2019
Sospan Sprint Triathlon Llanelli – Saturday 11 May 2019
Bloodwise Blenheim Palace Triathlon – Saturday 1 – Sunday 2 June 2019
AJ Bell World Triathlon Leeds – Saturday 8 June 2019
BananaMan Triathlon (Eton Dorney) – Saturday 29 June 2019
Hetton Super Saturday – Saturday 20 July 2019
The British Triathlon Big Weekend – Saturday 7 – Sunday 8 September 2019
Elite Paratriathlon Racing Opportunities
Bedford Autodrome Duathlon (British Paraduathlon Championships) – Sunday 7 April 2019
Sospan Sprint Triathlon Llanelli – Saturday 11 May 2019
Arctic One Tri and Para-Tri Festival (British Paratriathlon Championships) – 27 May 2019
To find out more about domestic elite racing opportunities in 2019, visit https://www.britishtriathlon.org/elite-racing
