Australia claims first-ever World Champion Mixed Relay Title

Australia is officially dominating the triathlon world, claiming the first-ever mixed relay world championship title. The fierce team of Charlotte McShane, Matthew Hauser, Ashleigh Gentle and Jacob Birtwhistle came from behind the field to take out the win.

France and USA lead early

As the first group of men took off, France and the USA looked set to take out the title with breakaway pair Ben Kanute (USA) and Dorian Coninz (FRA) taking the lead early. At the changeover to the first women’s leg, both countries had a solid 11 second lead on the rest of the field.

Unfortunately for France though, the country was awarded a penalty in the second transition during the third heat of the race.

Australia, GBR, Netherlands and Canada step up

The other leader, the USA continued their solid lead thanks to Katie Zaferes, although it didn’t last. Canadian Joanna Brown, Rachel Klamer of the Netherlands, Lucy Hall of Great Britain and Ashleigh Gentle of Australia stepped up to take the lead.

Jacob Birtwhistle helped propel Australia to the win

Unfortunately for Canada, Alexis Lepage slipped on the bike and lost their advantage, leaving them at the mercy of the other nations. By the final transition in the final heat, Jacob Birtwhistle summoned his fiercest running power to power the Aussie team to the finish line.

“I will give it to Hamburg, I love it here. To come out here with the guys, we were all able to put together a good race and end up as World Champions, it is pretty awesome!” said Birtwhistle.

“I feel like there is a lot more pressure on you when you race because you aren’t just racing for yourself, you are racing for your whole team, but it is definitely so much fun to be able to come out here and win together,” said Charlotte McShane.

Americans and Dutch round out podium

Behind the celebrating Aussies, the Americans made their way to second place. Close behind, the Dutch team made it to third, securing their first relay medal.

Marco Van der Stel (NED) said of getting the bronze; “Hamburg is always a fantastic race, it is full of crowds. I always love to be in Hamburg and then we come in third today, it is really a dream, we never thought, we hoped to be top eight, but to finish on the podium, it was just amazing teamwork.”

What is the mixed relay event?

Mixed relay will be included as an official Olympic sport for the first time in Tokyo in 2020. It’s a great opportunity for triathletes to enjoy a team effort for a change. Each athlete completes a 300 metre swim, seven kilometre bike and 1.6 kilometre run.

Trizone wishes the Aussies a huge congratulations. We knew you could do it!