Indoor sprint tri superleague lands in London

Posted by Steve Cox on 27th Mar 2021

The BBC will be screening a rare meeting of the triathlon elite in a virtual sprint tri-style competition this weekend.

Top triathletes including the Brownlee brothers and Georgia Taylor-Brown will line up at the London Aquatics Centre, for a 200m swim, 4km bike ride and a 1km run on the kind of static bikes and treadmills we’re all familiar with from our work in the gym.

The races form part of the Super League Triathlon (SLT) Arena Games, a championship-style annual event which usually takes place between September and November.

Being broadcast by the BBC via the iPlayer, red button and its website, London’s event takes place today (Saturday, 27 March). The women’s race will start at 3pm, with the men facing off an hour later.

Jonny Brownlee appeared on BBC Breakfast News yesterday (Friday) to publicise the race, when he also gave the programme’s sports presenter, Mike Bushell, a glimpse behind the scenes at his home training set-up, on which he has been preparing for this summer’s delayed Olympics.

He hoped today’s event would draw in viewers from among the many people who have dipped their toes into the world of tri during the lockdowns of the past year. “There have been more people getting active and wanting to complete these kinds of challenges, and hopefully that will continue,” he told the BBC.

The SLT event was co-founded by Michael D’Hulst, a former pro triathlete. Its aim is “to turn a traditionally participation-led sport into a spectator sport. We do that by making our races, short, getting the elite athletes in the world to race head-to-head at full gas”.

Picture: Competitors taking part in a Super League Triathlon event, which comes to London this weekend.