The best up-and-coming triathlon talent in the United States will once again be on display in West Chester, Ohio, as nearly 1,000 young triathletes ages 7-19 compete in the USA Triathlon Youth & Junior National Championships, set to take place on August 3-4 in West Chester’s Voice of America Park.
West Chester has been the host city to Youth & Junior Nationals since 2012, making this the eighth consecutive year rising multisport stars have flocked to this destination. An unprecedented agreement made in 2016 between USA Triathlon, West Chester and Butler County will keep the event in this location through 2021.
“Youth & Junior Nationals is the perfect multisport environment for our younger members to learn and grow, from age-specific non-drafting races to draft-legal and mixed relay events as a bridge to the elite circuit,” said Brian D’Amico, USA Triathlon Director of Events.
“USA Triathlon and all of our youth and junior athletes have benefited from the partnership with West Chester and Butler County, and we cannot wait to return to Voice of America Park for a fun and memorable race weekend.”
Action on the race course will kick off at 08:00 ET on Saturday, August 3, with junior elite (ages 16-19) and youth elite (ages 13-15) athletes competing in draft-legal championship events, a format similar to what is contested in the Olympic Games and other International Triathlon Union events held around the globe.
The junior elite athletes will compete first, racing on a 750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run course, with the junior elite women starting at 08:00 ET and the junior elite men following at 09:40. ET.
Next, the youth elite field will take to the course, competing across half the distance — a 375m swim, 10k bike and 2.5k run — with youth elite girls starting at 11:05 and youth elite boys at 12:05.
Junior elite and youth elite athletes earned their spots on the start list through their finish positions at qualifying events held across the U.S. as part of the 2019 USA Triathlon Junior Elite Series.
Racing in Voice of America Park will continue on Sunday, August 4, as junior elite and youth elite competitors ages 13-19 face off in the 10th edition of the draft-legal Mixed Relay. Starting at 07:30, each athlete on a four-person team will complete a 250m swim, 5k bike and 1.2k run before tagging their next teammate.
The event regularly features nearly 50 teams and follows a format similar to that of the elite ITU Mixed Relay World Series, which showcases the fast-paced discipline ahead of its inclusion as a medal event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The age-group Youth National Championships will follow the relay, providing youth athletes ages 7-15 an opportunity to compete for national titles in their age groups on a non-drafting course. The Youth National Championships has no qualifying criteria, and registration for the age-group races is still open at usatriathlon.org/jr2019.
Youth paratriathletes in the PC Open division will start first, at 10:40, followed by the rest of the youth age-group field beginning at 10:55. Athletes ages 11-15, including paratriathletes, will race on a 200m swim, 10k bike and 2k run course, while younger athletes ages 7-10 will complete a 100m swim, 5k bike and 1k run.
In addition to recognizing top individual finishers in each race, awards will also be presented to the top youth clubs in the non-drafting events and the top development teams in the draft-legal events.
Some of the most accomplished elite triathletes in U.S. history got their start at Youth & Junior Nationals, including 2016 Olympians Greg Billington and Ben Kanute, as well as Kevin McDowell, a five-time ITU World Cup medallist and Pan American Games silver medallist; Eli Hemming, a two-time ITU World Cup medallist; 2017 ITU Under-23 world champion Tamara Gorman; and 2018 ITU U-23 world champion and WTS and World Cup medallist Taylor Knibb.
