Photos: Duffy, Yee, England Top Commonwealth Games Races

On the other side of the ocean, the 2022 Commonwealth Games kicked off this weekend with the individual triathlon races awarding the first medals in Birmingham, UK.

In the men’s and women’s races, familiar faces found their way to the front with Bermuda’s Flora Duffy out-running England’s Georgia Taylor-Brown, and England’s Alex Yee topping New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde. But, with a controversial penalty given to Wilde in the men’s race, many are bemoaning the missed sprint finish that could have been between the two Olympic medalists.

Wilde has said he is appealing the 10-second penalty, which was given for starting to remove his helmet before his bike was stopped—though close observers will note the bike had already been placed in the rack, and hopes to share gold with Yee.

The paratri races followed on Sunday, with only the men’s and women’s visually-impaired categories competing in this Games edition. (Paratri races were added to the Commonwealth Games’ line-up in 2018.) And England had a good Sunday, taking both the VI wins and then following it with a gold in the mixed relay.

At the Commonwealth Games, each Commonwealth country competes for their own pride and victory—meaning the team of Great Britain is divided into Wales, Scotland, England, and Northern Ireland. For the deep British team, that allowed athletes who didn’t make the cut for Tokyo to show what they’re capable of, and it pitted teammates against each other in exciting showdowns.

Photos from Ben Lumley/World Triathlon and Getty Images