Georgia Taylor Brown finished just outside the medals at the ITU U23 World Championships in sweltering heat in Cozumel, Mexico. Sophie Coldwell and Calum Johnson also put in excellent performances.

The women’s race started almost as soon as the sun came up this morning, but the heat and humidity was blistering. Organisers have already altered the start times of other races to account for the conditions.

Sophie Coldwell made the strongest first impression by exiting the water in the lead, and then getting into a group of six athletes at the start of the bike section. Georgia Taylor Brown was part of that group but crashed early in the race and rode with the group behind, which eventually caught Coldwell’s group.

Taylor Brown was the stronger runner, moving up to fourth by the finish in what was her first ever Olympic distance race. She said: "Wow, that was tough. I wasn't sure how my first Olympic was going to go but I guess it went alright! Minus the little fall, I actually really enjoyed myself out there and I couldn't really ask for more. After two years of injury it feels good to be back racing and I'm already excited for next year." 

Coldwell had an excellent second half to her 10km run, and finish sixth. She later commented that she had aimed for a medal by trying to make the early break work, but that she was pleased with sixth place.

Men's U23 Championship

The men’s U23 race took place yesterday evening with strong British line up. However it wasn’t to be for Olympian Gordon Benson, who had a puncture, and Grant Sheldon, who finished fourth in the penultimate round of the ITU World Series two weeks ago.

Calum Johnson and Jimmy Kershaw were the top British athletes with Johnson finishing twelfth. Afterwards Johnson commented; “If you had asked me this time last year, there was no way that I would have said I would come 12th at world U23 champs. I struggled a lot last year so to achieve what I have done is everything and more than I would have expected.”