As we round up our Sport Focus on Triathlon, here are 12 things you might not know about the sport at the Commonwealth Games:
1. A demonstration sport at the 1990 Auckland Games, Triathlon made its Commonwealth Games debut in 2002 at the Manchester Games and returned to the sport programme at Glasgow 2014, having not featured at the Delhi 2010 Games. It has since been elevated to a core sport and is included for 2018.
2. Para-Triathlon is now an optional discipline which will make its debut in Gold Coast and features a combined category for H1 and H2 athletes (run with a staggered start) for both men and women.
3. The Mixed Team Relay, featuring two men and two women, was introduced at Glasgow 2014 and sees athletes compete in a super-sprint triathlon. Each athlete is required to complete a course of 250m open water swim, 7km cycle and 1.5km run, before tagging their team mate.
4. Scotland have yet to win a medal in Triathlon at the Commonwealth Games. Seventh place for both David McNamee in the Men’s Individual and for the Mixed Team Relay at Glasgow 2014 are Scotland’s best results to date.
5. All Commonwealth Games triathlon gold medals to date have been won by England, Australia or Canada.
6. For the first time in Commonwealth Games history, in 2018 the Triathlon will take place over the Sprint distance; 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run. Previous Games have been run over the full Olympic distance – double the Sprint distance.
7. The individual Triathlon events take place on the first day of the Games at Gold Coast 2018, with the Mixed Team Relay two days later.
8. Showcasing the splendour of the Gold Coast, the Triathlon will start and finish at the beautiful Southport Broadwater Parklands.
9. Paralympic gold medallist Karen Darke will become the first Scottish athlete to compete in Para-Triathlon at the Commonwealth Games. Since being paralysed from the chest down in a climbing accident age 21, the Inverness based athlete has pushed herself in an incredible series of challenges, alongside her sporting endeavours, all using just the power of her arms. These include crossing Greenland’s ice cap, hand-cycling from Canada to Mexico and climbing Mont Blanc, Matterhorn and El Capitan.
10. Beth Potter, competitor in track Athletics at Glasgow 2014, the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and 2017 World Athletics Championships, will make history in Gold Coast by becoming the first Scottish athlete ever to compete in two sports at a single Games. She will compete in both the women’s individual event and Mixed Team Relay before returning to the track for the 10,000m.
11. There is a strong track & field pedigree in the Gold Coast 2018 women’s team, with Erin Wallace making her Commonwealth Games debut in Triathlon having won gold at the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games in the 1500m.
12. On the men’s side both Marc Austin and Grant Sheldon return from Glasgow 2014, with Marc a double silver medallist at the 2015 European U23 Championships and Grant a double gold medallist at the 2016 World University Championships.
Meet all five triathletes competing for Team Scotland at Gold Coast 2018 in their Athlete Profiles.