Sunderland gears up to welcome the World Triathlon Championships
Preparation is well underway at Roker Seafront, Sunderland, as the city prepares to welcome some of the World’s best triathletes for the British leg of the World Triathlon Championships.
Preparation is well underway at Roker Seafront, Sunderland, as the city prepares to welcome some of the World’s best triathletes for the British leg of the World Triathlon Championships.
It is the first time that Sunderland will be a host of the annual series, which takes place on July 29th and 30th. Many see hosting Sunderland hosting the event as a major coup for the city and the North East region. Spectators on Roker Beach will watch nearly 2,000 triathletes aged 4 and up swim, bike, and run in two days of races. Various events will take place over the weekend. Aside from the World Championships, there are also opportunities for families and children to get involved in different contests.
The first leg of the 2023 Triathlon World Championships took place all the way back in Early March in Abu Dhabi. Since then, the cities of Yokohama, Cagliari, Montreal, and Hamburg have all bared witness to the event. The Sunderland leg of the Championships is the final hurdle the triathletes must overcome, before the series finale in Pontevedra, Spain, in September. The points participants accumulate from the series count towards the 2023 World title and have a bearing on qualification for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Councillor Graeme Miller, leader of Sunderland city council said:
“I’m hoping the locals are proud and excited to be hosting a World Championship event. I am delighted because it’s taken us several years to get to this point. Last year we held the British Triathlon series as a test event for this. The organisers were very pleased with what they saw, which is why they came back to us to ask if we wanted to host a leg of the World Series event.
“I’ve got no doubt the local businesses in the area are going to benefit massively from the event. They’re going to have two days of people coming down here to take it in. They will benefit financially from it, which is great for everyone. Please come along over the weekend and have a good time. It will be a great weekend. Hopefully we can continue to deliver events like this going forward.”
The first races begin at 7 am at Roker Beach, this Saturday, the 29th of July. All coverage will be shown live on the BBC and worldwide.