Olympic Selection for Fantastic Four Triathletes

The British Olympic Association (BOA) has selected the first four triathletes that will represent Team GB at the rescheduled Tokyo Olympic Games. 

Olympic medallists Jonny Brownlee and Vicky Holland will join Georgia Taylor-Brown and Jess Learmonth as the British representatives set to take their place on the start line in Odaiba Bay in Tokyo.

Brownlee and Holland will be returning to Team GB for their third Games having clocked up three Olympic medals between them.

Jonny Brownlee (handicap 1.5), who recently ran 13:46 at the Podium 5k, secured bronze at the London 2012 Olympic Games before heading to Rio and progressing to the next step of the podium claiming silver just behind his brother Alistair.

Jonny said: “It's great to be selected for Tokyo and my third Games. I'm really excited to be able to say I will be on the start line in Tokyo. With all of the other uncertainty in the world at the moment, it's really nice to have the certainty around the selection.

“I wouldn't be going to the Olympics if I didn't think I could win a medal and I'm looking forward to having the next eight months to prepare.”

Vicky Holland    became Britain’s first female Olympic medallist in triathlon as she sprinted for the finish in Rio to claim her bronze medal, before backing up the performance with a world title in 2018. She also started 2020 on the podium after winning the World Cup in Mooloolaba.

Holland said: “I’m delighted to have been nominated for a third Olympics next year in Tokyo. The Olympic Games has always been the driving force behind my athletic career and to have another opportunity to race on the biggest stage of all is something I do not take for granted.

“To have been selected early, as I was ahead of Rio, affords me the opportunity to prepare for Tokyo to the best of my ability and offers me a little certainty in a very uncertain situation.”

2020 World Triathlon Champion Georgia Taylor-Brown  (handicap 5.2)  and world silver medallist Jess Learmonth will be making their Olympic debuts in Tokyo having shown positive progress in the last four years.

Leeds-based Taylor-Brown made her debut at the World Triathlon Series in 2018 and began to make a medal-winning impact by securing a World Championship bronze medal in 2019, following that up with a world title in 2020 in Hamburg.

Taylor-Brown commented: “It's so exciting to be able to say I'm going to Tokyo with such a great group. Jess is going to her first Olympics like me and I'm excited to share this with her. I'm really looking forward to Tokyo and it's great to share the news now.”

Jess Learmonth   has a wealth of experience having competed at the World Triathlon Series since 2016, but it was her impressive performance at the 2018 Commonwealth Games that kick-started her medal haul. Throughout 2019 she won six medals on the World Triathlon Series circuit, as well as claiming silver at the Grand Final in Lausanne.

Learmonth said: “I’m just really proud and to be part of the GB team is even more amazing for me because it’s such a successful team in triathlon. So, to be a part of that and also be with Georgia, one of my good friends, and to experience our first Olympic Games together and then also go with two others that have been to two Olympic Games previously seems perfect to me.”

Social Media Links

@georgiatb

@VixHolland

@jonny_brownlee

@Jess_Learmonth