COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Twenty-one U.S. athletes are set to compete at the ITU World Triathlon Series (WTS) and ITU World Paratriathlon Series (WPS) races this Friday in Edmonton, Canada. The action continues Saturday, as a four-person U.S. team will take on the final stop of the ITU World Mixed Relay Series. 

The elite paratriathlon races start things off on Friday, July 27, with the first wave of athletes going off at 3:45 p.m. ET (1:45 p.m. local time). The elite women’s WTS follows at 7:36 p.m. ET (5:36 p.m. local time), while the men race at 9:21 p.m. ET (7:21 p.m. local time). Both WTS races will be broadcast live at triathlonlive.tv. The WPS will feature a free finish-line livestream, also at triathlonlive.tv.

The ITU World Mixed Relay Series takes place Saturday, July 28, at 6:04 p.m. ET (4:04 p.m. local time). A live broadcast will be available at triathlonlive.tv and on NBC’s Olympic Channel.

ITU World Triathlon Series
The sixth individual stop of the WTS circuit features a sprint-distance 750-meter swim, 21-kilometer bike and 5-kilometer run course. As the current WTS leader, U.S. athlete Katie Zaferes (Santa Cruz, Calif.) is No. 1 on the women’s start list. Zaferes has reached the podium at every WTS race this season except for the season opener in Abu Dhabi, UAE, where she crashed out on the bike. Zaferes earned bronze in Edmonton in both 2016 and 2017. She will face stiff competition from the Netherlands’ Rachel Klamer and Great Britain’s Vicky Holland, who are No. 2 and No. 3 in the overall series. 

American Kirsten Kasper (North Andover, Mass.) is fourth on the start list. After fourth-place finishes in Abu Dhabi and Bermuda, and a fifth-place finish in Hamburg, Germany, Kasper is in search of her first WTS podium of the season. Also competing for the U.S. women are Taylor Spivey (Redondo Beach, Calif.); Summer Cook (Thornton, Colo.), the 2016 ITU World Triathlon Edmonton champion; and Taylor Knibb (Washington, D.C.), who won silver in Edmonton last year. Click here for the complete women’s start list.

Current WTS leader and two-time world champion Mario Mola of Spain leads the elite men’s field. He is followed by France’s Vincent Luis and South Africa’s Richard Murray, who took silver and bronze respectively at the last WTS stop in Hamburg.

Eli Hemming (Kiowa, Colo.) is the top U.S. man at No. 24 on the start list. He earned a career-best 11th-place WTS finish in April in Bermuda, and raced to fifth at an ITU Triathlon World Cup in June in Cagliari, Italy. Kevin McDowell (Phoenix, Ariz.) is in pursuit of his first top-10 WTS finish, as his career best was 11th last season in Gold Coast, Australia. Rounding out the men’s start list is Tony Smoragiewicz (Rapid City, S.D.), a two-time Continental Cup medalist in search of his first WTS top-20. Click here for the complete men’s start list.

ITU World Paratriathlon Series
Edmonton will host the third and final stop of the WPS regular season ahead of September’s ITU Paratriathlon World Championships in Gold Coast, Australia. Competitors in all sport classes will cover a 750m swim, 21k bike and 5k run. 

Of the 13 paratriathletes who will represent the U.S., five lead their respective start lists: Allysa Seely (women’s PTS2), Mark Barr (men’s PTS2), Grace Norman (women’s PTS5), Aaron Scheidies (men’s PTVI) and Elizabeth Baker (women’s PTVI). Seely (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Barr (Houston, Texas) are both undefeated this season, winning gold medals at the first two WPS stops in Yokohama, Japan, and Iseo, France. Norman (Jamestown, Ohio), a two-time ITU Paratriathlon World Champion, looks to return to the top of the podium after claiming silver in Yokohama. 

Scheidies (Seattle, Wash.) is making his WPS season debut after winning the Sarasota-Bradenton CAMTRI Paratriathlon American Championships in March. Baker (Signal Mountain, Tenn.), who earned silver medals at both the Sarasota-Bradenton CAMTRI Championships and WPS Yokohama, will also be looking for a top finish.

Also competing for the U.S. are: Howie Sanborn (Denver, Colo., men’s PTWC), Zach Young (Cape Girardeau, Mo., men’s PTWC), Allan Armstrong (Colorado Springs, Colo., men’s PTS2), Hailey Danz (Wauwatosa, Wis., women’s PTS2), Melissa Stockwell (Chicago, Ill., women’s PTS2), Joel Rosinbum (Austin, Texas, men’s PTS4), Omar Bermejo (Casper, Wy., men’s PTS4) and Amy Dixon (Encinitas, Calif., women’s PTVI). Click here for complete paratriathlon start lists.

ITU World Mixed Relay Series
The ITU launched the World Mixed Relay Series this year in an effort to showcase the fast-paced mixed relay race format ahead of the sport’s inclusion as a medal event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The U.S. team of Kasper, Hemming, Zaferes and Matt McElroy (Huntington Beach, Calif.) won gold in the first stop of the season in Nottingham, England. At the second stop in Hamburg, which doubled as the ITU Mixed Relay World Championships, the U.S. team of Kasper, Ben Kanute (Phoenix, Ariz.), Zaferes and McDowell earned bronze.

The third and final stop of the ITU World Mixed Relay Series will feature teams from 23 countries. Each athlete in a team of four will complete a 300m swim, 6.6k bike and 1.6k run before passing off to the next teammate, alternating women and men. Team rosters will be determined following the WTS races on Friday evening, and will be published at triathlon.org.

The U.S. enters the race as the No. 4-seeded team. Australia, the 2017 world champion, leads the start list, followed by 2018 world champion France. Great Britain, silver medalist at the first stop of the series in Nottingham, is seeded third. The U.S. is historically strong in the mixed relay format, winning the world title in 2016 and taking silver at worlds in 2017. 

For complete information for all events in Edmonton, visit edmonton.triathlon.org.

About USA Triathlon
USA Triathlon is proud to serve as the National Governing Body for triathlon, as well as duathlon, aquathlon, aquabike, winter triathlon, off-road triathlon and paratriathlon in the United States. Founded in 1982, USA Triathlon sanctions more than 4,300 events and connects with more than 400,000 members each year, making it the largest multisport organization in the world. In addition to its work with athletes, coaches, and race directors on the grassroots level, USA Triathlon provides leadership and support to elite athletes competing at international events, including International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Championships, Pan American Games and the Olympic and Paralympic Games. USA Triathlon is a proud member of the ITU and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).