The Australian team, composed of skilled juniors, elite competitors, and dedicated age group athletes, are primed to make their mark on the World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships in Hamburg this week.

For over twenty years, the German city has been welcoming the top tier of international triathlon, with this years event set to take place from 14 to 17 July.

The four-day programme includes the Elite, Junior and Age-Group Mixed Relay World Championships, Elite Super-Sprint World Championships, Junior World Championships and Age-Group Sprint World Championships

Juniors:

Junior Women World Championships, Friday 14 July, 1:00am AEST

Junior Men World Championships, Friday 14 July, 3:00am AEST
Junior Mixed Relay World Championships, Saturday 15 July, 9:00pm AEST

 

World Championship from Hamburg action kicks off in the early hours of Friday morning with the Junior Men’s and Women’s races.

The Australian team comprises of Rhianna Hepburn, Emma Olson-Keating, Alex Field, Brad Course, Tom Feldmann, Mitchell Blackbourn, and Jack Crome.

The current crop of talented junior’s will be motivated to emulate success of triathlon stars Matt Hauser (2017), Ashleigh Gentle (2010), and Felicity Abram (2003) who have all previously clinched gold medals at the event.

All seven team members kicked off the 2023 Triathlon Australia Junior Tour with top ten finishes at the Holten European Cup earlier in the month, with Crome and Hepburn taking the top step on the podium in the Junior races, which Brad Course stepped up to secure silver in the Elite Men.

Since then, the team has been participating in a World’s Prep Camp in Germany under the guidance of National Development Coach Brendon Sexton and Samantha Jannsen, coach with Momentum Endurance in Melbourne.

Elites:

Elite Men Qualifiers, Friday 14 July, 4:00pm AEST

Elite Women Qualifiers, Friday 14 July, 6:00pm AEST
Elite Men/Women Repechage, Saturday 15 July, 3:00am AEST

Elite Men World Championships, Sunday 16 July, 12:20am AEST
Elite Women World Championships, Sunday 16 July, 12:55am AEST
Elite Mixed Relay World Championships, Sunday 16 July, 10:15pm AEST

The famous Hamburg course will be cut back for the World Championships, now a 300m swim in the Binnenalster lake, a tight and technical three-lap, 7.5km bike through the city centre and two-lap 1.6km run in front of the Rathaus.

Qualifiers and Repechage races take place on Friday evenings will see the fastest 30 men and 30 women through to the three-stage finals on Sunday morning.

There, the last 10 across the finish line will be cut from the next stage’s start, until just ten athletes are left to battle it out for the gold. Fresh off his maiden World Triathlon Championship Series win,

Matt Hauser takes the start line in the men’s race alongside Brandon Copeland, Luke Willian, Callum McClusky and Jake Birtwhistle. Nat Van Coevorden, Jaz Hedgeland, Sophie Linn, Emma Jackson and Kira Hedgeland make up the Aussie women.

 The elite races are part of the ongoing qualification process for Paris 2024, with Sunday’s Mixed Relay World Champions also automatically securing two female and two male berths for next year’s Olympic Games. 

Age Group:

Age Group World Championships, Friday 14 July, 8:00pm AEST
Age Group Mixed Relay World Championships, Monday 17 July, 12:15am AEST

Australia’s age group athletes will compete in the individual sprint distance over a 750m swim, 20km bike, and 5km run on Friday night, before the Mixed Relay World Championships take center stage on Monday morning.

An incredible 68 Aussies take on the individual Age Group World Championships, while seven teams will battle for World Title honours in the Mixed Relay.  

A poignant moment of the championships will come in the form of a tribute to the late Chris Davis, who has been posthumously named the Australian Age Group Triathlon Team Flag Bearer.Chris' family members, Joanne Gray, Andy Davis, John Davis, and Stephen Gray, have also been selected to represent Australia in the age group category, making their participation in the championships all the more meaningful.

 Click here to view the full 2023 Australian Age Group Triathlon Team.