Challenge returns to mainland China in style as impressive field lines up for Olympic-distance race in Beijing
Impressive field of Olympians and middle-distance specialists head to China for Challenge event this weekend
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Challenge Beijing
With US$100,000 on the line, Challenge Beijing has managed to attract a stellar professional field to go along with the 1,000 Chinese and international age-group athletes expected to compete over the weekend that includes both Olympic- and sprint-distance races.
Olympians take on long-distance stars
Canadian Paula Findlay, a runner-up at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship a few years ago and recent winner of Ironman 70.3 Mont-Tremblant, is one of the favourites for the race, but so too will be Olympic silver medalist Julie Derron (SUI). Added to the impressive women’s professional start list are Great Britain’s Lucy Byram and Sian Rainsley, Ellie Salthouse (AUS) and Amelia Watkinson (NZL).
The men’s race also features an interesting mix of long-course and draft-legal specialists, including New Zealand’s Kyle Smith, who is second-ranked in the PTO World Ranking after runner-up finishes at T100 San Francisco and London, along with Germany’s Frederik Funk, Aaron Royle (AUS) and Marc Kubrick (USA). Paris Olympians Henri Schoeman (RSA) and Canada’s Tyler Mislawchuk will test their biking skills in the non-drafting race, too.
Livestream info
Athletes looking for some triathlon entertainment on a Saturday evening in North America will be able to tune into the live stream of the race. The pro race starts at 7:30 am local time on Sunday morning, which will be Saturday, 7:30 pm EST. You can click on the link below to watch the live coverage of the race.
Winter Olympic site
“Yanqing District, where Challenge Beijing is based hosted alpine skiing, bobsled, luge and skeleton during the 2022 Winter Olympics and the 50,000 square metre Beijing Expo Park is located in the southwest of Yanqing, about 74km away from the city centre,” organizers state on the event website. “With the Gui River running through it and the Haituo Mountain Range in the background, with its lakes and mountains in full view, it’s a spectacular destination for a triathlon.”