World Triathlon: Championships in Sunderland for first time

Athletes from around the world are in the north-east of England for the World Triathlon Championship Series.

It is the first time Sunderland has hosted the UK leg of the prestigious event, which has drawn huge crowds to Roker and Seaburn seafront.

About 2,000 competitors are taking part in 34 combined swimming, cycling and running events.

But British Triathlon chief executive Andy Salmon said there was "more to it than just two days of elite racing".

Organisers were focused on "the impact this event can have on the people of Sunderland and around in terms of getting more physical activity", he said.

British Triathlon's "swim bike run" programme hoped to get people "no matter what their ability levels, onto their feet, into the water hopefully, doing swim-bike-run in a way that really means something to them, at their pace, at their level", he said.

"So it's for everybody."

Sunderland City Council chief executive Patrick Melia also stressed the need to "get everyone active and everyone moving".

He said: "It's great to watch how fast those athletes go and how they sustain that energy.

"But the great thing about this is the legacy, how it inspires normal people, people of all abilities, to either swim, to cycle, to run or to do all three."

Although beginners to the discipline are also taking part, the championships are one of the last chances for elite athletes to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris next year.

The course starts with a 750m swim in the harbour, followed by a five-lap 13.2-mile (21.2km) bike ride and then finishes with a two-lap 5km (3.1 miles) run.

Mr Salmon said the event was a "big step up" from the British Championships which were held on Wearside in 2022.

"Last year was really important to us, it gave us the chance to test the course and give local people and volunteers an opportunity to see what was involved," he said.

"But this is a big step up. We've got 120 of the world's best athletes in town."

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