Brownlee brothers launch new triathlon festival

Olympic medallists Jonathan and Alistair Brownlee have announced a new triathlon event for Ripon.

The first Ripon Triathlon Festival will be held at the city's racecourse on 13 and 14 July.

The event will offer a weekend of events for competitors of different levels and abilities.

It will also raise funds for the Brownlee Foundation, which provides opportunities to inspire children of all backgrounds to enjoy sport.

The festival will offer sprint, standard and middle distance triathlons as well as open-water swims and a range of children's races.

"The main thing I want to change with this event is encouraging the idea that anyone can do a triathlon," Alistair Brownlee told BBC Radio York.

"It might be something you do as a personal goal just to get you off the sofa, to raise money for charity or as a challenge to do with friends."

The move is part of Brownlee Foundation's purchase of TriHard Events, whose races also include the Helvellyn Triathlon and Ripon's previous triathlon event, The Dalesman.

"One of the reasons we wanted to do this event is that since Covid, it's been hard for smaller community events to keep going," said Alistair Brownlee.

"But we think these are events are important to help local people have goals and compete."

Competitors can do the triathlons solo or join with two friends to compete as a team.

"We want this to have a real festival atmosphere with events for everyone, plus live music, talks and just give people opportunities to enjoy people outdoors," he added.