British Triathlon's Head of Paratriathlon Tom Hodgkinson championed sustainability in sport after Brits dominated the medals at 2024 World Triathlon Para Series Swansea.

The event, which returned to the SA1 Waterfront for the third time on Saturday, was organised with an overarching eye for sustainability and achieved Gold in World Triathlon’s Sustainability Certification.

Emphasising the importance of protecting our planet, Hodgkinson hopes paratriathlon can set the standard for environmental action across the sporting world.

“It's only since coming out of the velodrome and working with cycling that you really, really get to see the world and the impacts of global warming,” he said.

“We're probably one of the only national governing bodies in the country that has a sustainability officer embedded in the sport, and Eve [Joseph] has done a great job in making sure that we got that gold award this time for this event.

“Hopefully we're setting the standard we hoped Swansea would for the World Para Series, to make sure we're having as limited impact on our surroundings as possible, making sure that more people can enjoy swim, bike and run.”

It was a successful day in South Wales for British Triathlon, with fans turning out in their droves to watch the world’s best paratriathletes compete before the 2024 Paralympic Games.

The likes of Dave Ellis, Claire Cashmore and Hannah Moore all produced winning performances, rising to the occasion in what was their penultimate race of the Paris Paralympic qualification window.

“There's a couple of people that stood out for me today,” Hodgkinson said.

“Year in, year out, Dave Ellis is always at the front - and it's hard to stay at the front. You've got people nipping at him like Owen Cravens and you've got Oscar [Kelly] that keeps on coming out to swim and keeps on coming out to bike at the same time.

“It's going to come down to that run, come Paris, and it's going to be great.

“We've still got some great results - medals, medals, medals.”

It was a bumper day of action in Wales, with the British Triathlon Paratri Super Series racing taking place ahead of the elite racing for developing paratriathletes.

Hodgkinson has hailed the opportunity for young athletes to run, ride and swim the same course as the best in the world.

He said: “It's a huge thing to come down in the morning and watch our young British athletes taking part on the same course, the same blue carpet as their heroes.

“We've got little pictures around Swansea today of people that took part in the first year, and there was a young lad that had an NHS leg on, his normal day leg.

“You saw him today and he had a great run form and he had a true running orthosis.  That's the impact of Swansea. He's seen it, he's looked at it and gone, I want to be like that.

“I'm looking forward to seeing that young man racing in our Super Series next year, and hopefully on all the triathlon races.”

World Triathlon Para Series Swansea welcomed some of the best paratriathletes in the world to swim, bike, run in South Wales. To start your journey in paratriathlon and find out more about the sport, visit https://www.britishtriathlon.org/paratriathlontalentid.