By Triathlon.kiwi
Brea Roderick’s Mixed Relay debut at World Triathlon Championship Series level is on ice thanks to fire.
World Triathlon were forced to cancel Sunday’s relay (early Monday NZT) at WTCS Montreal due to smog from the forest fires in Quebec.
It meant Roderick, named to anchor the NZL quartet after a strong debut 34th place in the individual race, will have to wait for her top-flight teams racing chance. The 21-year-old Cantabrian had been named for her debut alongside Tayler Reid, Ainsley Thorpe and Dylan McCullough.
The next relay on the World Triathlon calendar is the World Relay Championships at WTCS Hamburg on July 16 where NZL can secure a relay slot at next year’s Paris Olympics, and individual starts for two females and two males as a result, if they can finish top, not counting already qualified France and GBR.
Roderick has been named in the Junior & U23 squad for Hamburg but may get her top-level shot at WTCS Sunderland on July 30.
Here’s the squads selected for the three remaining relays this year:
WTCS Hamburg (World Triathlon Sprint & Relay Championship) – July 16
Female (3): Ainsley Thorpe, Brea Roderick, Nicole van der Kaay
Male (3): Dylan McCullough, Hayden Wilde, Tayler Reid
Junior & U23 MR World Championships – July 16
Female (2): Brea Roderick, Hannah Knighton
Male (3): Dylan McCullough, Saxon Morgan, Lachlan Haycock
WTCS Sunderland – July 30
Female (3): Ainsley Thorpe, Brea Roderick, Nicole van der Kaay
Male (3): Dylan McCullough, Hayden Wilde, Tayler Reid
Here’s the World Triathlon statement out of Montreal this morning:
“It is with regret that we announce the Mixed Relay race of the Groupe Coplay World Triathlon Championship Series Montreal, planned for Sunday 25 June, has been cancelled due to the smog coming from the forest fires in Quebec.
“The latest measurements of the air quality show that it is getting worse in the Grand Quai area, and the Health and Safety authorities do not allow the race to start in these conditions. We do not, at any stage, wish to put our athletes in danger and the forecast conditions would have jeopardised the safety of the athletes. The safety of our athletes is of paramount importance and this decision has not been taken lightly.
Latest measurements at Grand Quai:
8.30am: 174
9.00 am: 258
9.30am: 263
10am: 345
