Silver for town in triathlon

LOUGHBOROUGH University triathlete Sophie Coldwell took part in the inaugural British Triathlon Mixed Relay Cup on the banks of the River Trent over the weekend.

More than 15,000 people flocked to Victoria Embankment to cheer on the 68 athletes from across the world, and watched on as Coldwell’s Loughborough team secured a silver medal behind Leeds and ahead of Canada.

Coldwell, 22, couldn’t hide her delight having competed in the swim, run and cycling disciplines.

She said: “It’s brilliant, we definitely came in as the underdogs, the two Leeds’ teams are really strong on paper, along with the likes of Japan and obviously Canada, as well as the Aussies.

“It was going to be tough, but to get on the podium and come away with a silver medal – we’re obviously very chuffed with that.”

And racing for the first time on a prestigious course up and down the Trent, her home crowd helped make the event extra special.

She said: “It was brilliant, you always say that if you’ve got spectators lining the route, you can make even a rubbish course even better, the course here was unbelievable, and it was such a good event.

“You had the technical bit on the bike, the swim and the run over Trent Bridge and back across, that was literally amazing and crowds lined the route the whole way.”