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Taylor-Brown on the home strait after Yokohama win

Taylor-Brown avoided the flat tyre she suffered at Tokyo 2020 to take victory in Yokohama
Taylor-Brown avoided the flat tyre she suffered at Tokyo 2020 to take victory in Yokohama (Ben Lumley)

Triathlete Georgia Taylor-Brown kicked off her post-Olympic season in style last weekend as she looks ahead to AJ Bell 2022 World Triathlon Championship Series Leeds on 11-12 June, writes Sportsbeat's Paul Eddison.

The 28-year-old returned from Tokyo last summer with gold and silver medals to her name in the mixed relay and women’s individual respectively.

And she was back in Japan to get her 2022 campaign underway, with a World Triathlon Championship Series event in Yokohama in similar conditions to the ones in which she claimed that silver last year.

This time around, there was no flat tyre to slow her down and Taylor-Brown was able to finish strongly to take victory ahead of France’s Léonie Periault and Olympic champion Flora Duffy, a result that was as welcome as it was unexpected.

She said: “I didn’t really have a plan going into it because it was the first race of the season so it was just a case of seeing how it went. I really didn’t expect to win at all. There is still a lot of work to do but it’s a great way to start. I wanted to put in a good result and to see where I stood.

“It’s really hard when you come out of an Olympic season. You have spent so long building up to it so afterwards it’s a little bit like going away on a holiday that you have been waiting for. It ends and you think to yourself ‘what do I do now?’. People tell you what to expect but it’s impossible to know until it happens, even if you achieve everything you want to achieve.

“I struggled a bit for motivation coming into the season so went into that first race trying not to put too much pressure on myself and just trying to enjoy it.”

Taylor-Brown clearly did enjoy her trip on what was a successful outing for the Brits, with fellow Olympic gold and silver medallist from Tokyo, Alex Yee, also victorious in the men’s race in Yokohama.

With her win in Japan, Taylor-Brown leads the Maurice Lacroix World Triathlon Championship rankings ahead of the next event on home soil in Leeds on June 11 and 12.

It will be a first opportunity for Taylor-Brown to race on the course in Roundhay, in the city where she studied at university, while it will also be a first opportunity for a British mixed relay team to race at home since 2019.

Taylor-Brown added: “Next up is Leeds. It’s funny because we’ll be staying in a race hotel even though it’s only about 20 minutes away from home in the car. It’s good though because it takes you out of everything else and allows you to focus on the race.

“I can’t wait to race there and race on the new course. I’m sure the crowds will be amazing as well and people will come out to support us.

“It will be the first mixed relay since the Games. It was amazing how it caught people’s imagination and it will be interesting to see what teams will do to change their approach.

“They have changed the format so now it goes boy-girl-boy-girl which should change it a little because some of the teams who maybe didn’t have a stronger second female triathlete will stay in the race longer.

“It also means that it will be one of the girls bringing it home which is exciting. It’s obviously more responsibility but that is what everyone dreams of, racing the anchor leg and bringing it home.”

AJ Bell 2022 World Triathlon Championship Series Leeds takes place in Roundhay Park on 11-12 June and will see elite athletes competing on both days, with men’s and women’s individual sprint racing on Saturday and mixed relay on Sunday. Find out more about spectating at the event here https://leeds.triathlon.org/event_information/spectators/.