British Athletes Medal at Aussie Youth Olympics

Marc Austin | image © 2013 ImacImages Photography

Four up and coming junior triathletes, all supported by blueseventy, made the long trip from snowy Britain to boiling hot Sydney for the Australian Youth Olympics (16-20 Jan) and came away with three bronze medals.

Young sensation Georgia Taylor Brown, the European Junior champion, and Scotland’s Marc Austin won bronze medals for Team GB on Sydney’s hottest day since 1939.

The Youth Olympics features 1700 athletes taking part in seventeen sports over five days and aims to develop Olympians of the future. For the southern hemisphere athletes the event takes place mid-summer, but for those from the north it was a tough challenge to race in the middle of winter training.

Australian triathletes claimed gold in both the men’s and women’s races through Jacob Birtwhistle and Jaz Hedgeland, but Marc, who is 18 and a Maths student at Stirling University, was delighted with his bronze medal.

“All of us Brits are at the same stage in training and none of us are race fit at the moment. So seeing that Georgia could do it in the form that she was in made me believe I could go out there and do the same,” said Marc. He exited the water in the first group of swimmers. On the bike leg a big pack formed, stopping anyone being able to make a break, and the race came down to the final transition and run. “I didn’t really know how I was going to perform with the heat and getting acclimatised, but I am really happy with my performance. This is one of the greatest experiences of my life!”

A day on from the individual success, Marc and Georgia teamed up with Sophie Coldwell and Gordon Benson to win bronze behind two strong Australian teams in the mixed relay – a fantastic and exciting event that could feature in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games if the IOC vote goes the right way in September!