The World Triathlon Mixed Relay Championships, is an annual team triathlon competition organized by World Triathlon. The competition is completed in teams of four, two men and two women, with each member doing a super-sprint distance triathlon.
History
The first relay event appeared in 2003 in Tiszaújváros, Hungary as the ITU Team Relay Championships, two races were run one for men's teams and one for women's teams every team would have three members who would each complete one leg and the teams combined time would be their total time. Despite being deemed a success the event would not return until 2006. The championship would return in 2006 and 2007 before once again lacking an annual competition in 2008. In 2009, World Triathlon (then known as the International Triathlon Union or ITU) went through a major reorganization of its top level competitions, the men's and women's relay championships where merged and the title would be contested as a mixed relay.[1] The event was initiated with the aim of getting more triathletes as well as the team triathlon discipline on the Olympic programme.[2][3]
The format appeared at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the 2014 Asian Games, which was considered a significant step towards adding team triathlon to the 2016 Summer Olympic programme.[4] In July 2013, the IOC executive board ruled that they would not add any new disciplines to the 2016 games for fear of putting additional financial pressure on Brazil. In June 2017 with the announcement of mixed gender events being added to the Olympic program the mixed team relay has gained Olympic status and will hold its inaugural Olympic event in the 2020 Olympics.[5] In 2018 it was decided that at three of the events of that years World Triathlon Series would also host a mixed relay event would be held alongside the men's and women's competition one of these would be the World Championship and all three events would grant points towards Olympic qualification and constitute the new mixed relay series. In 2019 the number of mixed relays in World Triathlon Series were increased to five and once again one of these would be the World Championship.[6]
In 2021 the Mixed Relay World Championships were awarded to Bermuda, with the intent of holding a combined World Triathlon Sprint & Mixed Relay Championships, which would also mark the return of a stand alone Sprint Championship after a ten-year hiatus. However, the Bermuda event was cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions, and the inaugural combined event was instead held as the Montréal leg of the 2022 World Triathlon Championship Series. The event doubled as the first qualifier for the 2024 Summer Olympics, and also included the first age-group mixed relay world championships.[7]
Results
4 x 4 Mixed relay
.svg.png.webp){kind=small}
Team Relay Championships
Before the creation of the mixed team relay, single gendered relay races were held intermittently.
Men's championship
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003[22] | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} AustraliaSimon Thompson Richie Cunningham Brad Kahlefeldt |
 SpainClemente Alonso McKernan José María Merchán Iván Raña |
 UkraineVladimir Turbayevskiy Andriy Glushchenko Maxim Kriat |
| 2006[23] |  United StatesBrian Fleischmann Andy Potts Matt Reed |
 GermanyJan Frodeno Maik Petzold Daniel Unger |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} CanadaKyle Jones Colin Jenkins Paul Tichelaar |
| 2007[24] |  Russia |
Germany |
Spain |
Women's championship
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003[22] | Australia Nikki Butterfield Mirinda Carfrae Pip Taylor |
Spain Ainhoa Murúa Pilar Hidalgo Ana Burgos |
 ItalyBeatrice Lanza Silvia Gemignani Nadia Cortassa |
| 2006[23] | Italy Daniela Chmet Beatrice Lanza Nadia Cortassa |
United States Sarah True Mary Beth Ellis Michelle Lindsay |
Spain Ana Burgos Zuriñe Rodríguez Ainhoa Murúa |
| 2007[24] | Russia Irina Abysova Evgeniya Matveeva Anastasiya Polyanskaya |
Ukraine Inna Tutukina Yuliya Yelistratova Olesya Prystayko |
Italy Daniela Chmet Charlotte Bonin Nadia Cortassa |
References
- ↑ Davies, Gareth (14 October 2006). "Team Champs - Battle of Nations". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ↑ Davies, Gareth (17 May 2007). "2007 Team World Championships". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ↑ Sherwoon, Merryn (8 August 2011). "Dream team leads Great Britain to Team Triathlon World Championship". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ↑ "Team Triathlon Added To The 2014 Incheon Asian Games". Competitor Group, Inc. 22 July 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ↑ "Tokyo 2020: Mixed-gender events added to Olympic Games". BBC Sport. 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
- ↑ Union, International Triathlon (2018-09-12). "ITU announces World Cup, Mixed Relay Series and Paratriathlon calendars for 2019 | Triathlon.org". Triathlon.org. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
- ↑ "2022 World Championships". Groupe Copley 2022 World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championships Montreal.
- ↑ "2009 Hy-Vee ITU Triathlon Team World Championships : 4xMixed Relay : Results". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ↑ "2010 Lausanne ITU Team Triathlon World Championships : 4xMixed Relay : Results". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ↑ "2011 Lausanne ITU Team Triathlon World Championships : 4xMixed Relay : Results". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- ↑ "2012 Stockholm ITU Team Triathlon World Championships : 4xMixed Relay : Results". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
- ↑ "2013 Hamburg ITU Team Triathlon World Championships : 4xMixed Relay : Results". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
- ↑ "2014 Hamburg ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships : Jul 13 2014 : 4xMixed Relay : Results". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
- ↑ "2015 Hamburg ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships : Jul 19 2015 : 4xMixed Relay : Results". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- ↑ "2016 Hamburg ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships : Jul 17 2016 : 4xMixed Relay : Results". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
- ↑ "2017 Hamburg ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships : Jul 16 2017: 4xMixed Relay : Results". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
- ↑ "2018 Hamburg ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships : Jul 15 2018: 4xMixed Relay : Results". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ↑ "2019 Hamburg ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships : Jul 7 2019: 4xMixed Relay : Results". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
- ↑ "2020 Hamburg ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships : September 6 2020: 4xMixed Relay : Results". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
- ↑ "2022 Montreal ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships : June 26 2022: 4xMixed Relay : Results". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
- ↑ "2023 Hamburg ITU Triathlon Mixed Relay World Championships : July 16 2023: 4xMixed Relay : Results". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
- 1 2 "ITU Team Triathlon World Championships 2003". International Triathlon Union. Archived from the original on 22 February 2007. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- 1 2 "2006 Cancun ITU Elite Team Triathlon World Championships : Elite Men : Results". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
- 1 2 "2007 Tiszaújváro ITU Elite Team Triathlon World Championships : Elite Men : Results". International Triathlon Union. Retrieved 21 September 2011.