World Triathlon Series to return to Leeds in 2017
The Leeds event will be held on the weekend of June 10-11 2017, again hosted as a partnership between Leeds City Council, UK Sport, the ITU and the organising team of British Triathlon and IRONMAN.
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It is reported in excess of 80,000 people lined the route of the elite races from Roundhay Park to Leeds city centre, where Gwen Jorgensen and Ali Brownlee triumphed in grandstand finished on Millenium Square.
However despite the elite races being a success, there were organisational issues for the 6,000 people taking part in the mass-participation triathlon events across the weekend, which left many stranded in the city centre for hours without their belongings.
World Triathlon Leeds: organisational issues blight age-group event
British Triathlon have released a statement apologising for the chaos saying: “We are sorry for the anxiety, frustration and inconvenience that was caused. The organising team of British Triathlon and IRONMAN want to address the problems from last weekend and get them right for future events.”
The Leeds event in 2017 is race four in an eight-leg ITU World Triathlon Series (further events may be added), following on from Abu Dhabi, Gold Coast and Yokohama. After Leeds the series moves on to Hamburg, Edmonton and Stockholm before the Grand Final in Rotterdam in September.
Jack Buckner, Chief Executive of British Triathlon, said: “To be able to put triathlon into the heart of a major city, right in front of people on the streets and on live television is really important in terms of the profile of our sport, and I¹m delighted that the ITU World Triathlon Series will be back in Leeds in 2017.”
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