Media

The city of Hamburg is interlinked massively with the Mixed Relay format. Since 2013, for seven times the German city has crowned the best of the world when it comes to the Mixed Relay, and this Sunday the local crowds will show up by the hundreds ready to see another full session of fast and furious action. 22 teams, two male and two females from each country, with each athlete performing on the usual Hamburg 300m swim, 7km bike and 1.7km run course of pure drama all the way to the tape. With the final line-ups not confirmed until two hours before the race, let’s take a look at some of the teams worth follow.

It will be Team USA wearing number 1, and they will indeed be looking for that exact position, that will give the Americans not only the World Championships title, but also a golden ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, as the winner in Hamburg will automatically qualify that Team for the Games, guaranteeing that at least two male and two female athletes from that country will compete in Paris next summer. Team USA has planned to line up Seth Rider, Taylor Spivey, Matthew McElroy and leave one of the fastest runners in the circuit, Summer Rappaport, as their anchor woman.

Team GB is bringing some fresh legs for the Relay, with Sophie Coldwell -who did not race in the Super-Sprint Heats or Finals- lining up along with Connor Bentley, Jack Willis and Beth Potter, who is doing her debut on Team GB on a Mixed Relay. Team UK has already secured their 2&2 athletes for Paris, after claiming the silver medal at the 2022 World Championships behind France, who is also already in as Host Country of the Games.

There are quite a few Teams that are lining up athletes that made it all the way to the final leg of the Super-Sprint World Championships, and New Zealand is indeed one of them, with Hayden Wilde planning to help the team to secure the much wanted Olympic spots. The Kiwi loves the explosive format of the Mixed Relay, and he will have alongside him experienced athletes like Ainsley Thorpe, Tayler Reid and Nicole Van Der Kaay.

Team Germany is always a dangerous one in Germany, even more considering the performances of both men and women this wSaturday at the Super-Sprint World Championships. Tim Hellwig, Annika Koch, Simon Henseleit and Laura Lindemann already know what it feels like to be cheered by the local crowds, and they surely will try to repeat their great performances of the youngers, who also claimed the gold medal at the Junior/U23 Mixed Relay World Championships.

Team Australia is also relying on Matthew Hauser for trying to get on the podium of the World Championships, alongside Jacob Birtwhistle, Natalie Van Coevorden and Jaz Hedgeland. For Team Canada, it will be Tyler Mislawchuk doubling up this weekend, with Charles Paquet, Dominika Jamnicky and Emy Legault racing for the Cannucks.

After claiming the gold medal at the European Games just a couple of weeks ago, Team Norway is replicating the Team to try to give it a shot at the World Championships, with Vetle Bergsvik Thorn, Lotte Miller, Casper Stornes and Solveig Løvseth replicating the team.

Team Hungary is also young and hungry, and all of them love the Mixed Relay format, so it will be worth to keep an eye for Csongor Lehmann, Zsanett Bragmayer, Márk Dévay and Márta Kropkó. Team Portugal had to brough in last minute their brand new Junior World Champion, João Nuno Batista. The 18 year-old won the title on Thursday and flew back home the following morning, just to be called back to Hamburg 24 hours later after his teammate Joao Pereira got injured in the Super-Sprint repechages and was not able to do the Relay. He will be lining up with the grown-ups Vasco Vilaca, Melanie Santos and Maria Tomé.

For Team Switzerland, it will be Max Studer, Julie Derron, Sylvain Fridelance and Cathia Schär, while Spain is calling also some more fresh legs, as both female athletes Anna Godoy Contreras and Miriam Casillas did not race on the Super-Sprint races. They will line up alongside Antonio Serrat Seoane and Roberto Sanchez Mantecon.

Irving Perez, Mercedes Romero Orozco, Rodrigo Gonzalez and Lizeth Rueda Santos will be representing Mexico, while Michele Sarzilla, Ilaria Zane, Gianluca Pozzatti and Verena Steinhauser will race for Italy. Emil Holm, Alberte Kjær Pedersen, Valdemar Solok and Anne Holm will be the ones lining up for Team Denamar, while Belgium has chosen the same team that raced at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Marten Van Riel, Claire Michel, Jelle Geens and Valerie Barthelemy.

Team Brazil will likely be a fast one as well, with Manoel Messias, Vittoria Lopes, Miguel Hidalgo and Djenyfer Arnold planned to compete this Sunday. Richard Murray, Rachel Klamer, Mitch Kolkman and Rani Skrabanja will race for Team Netherlands, and Alois Knabl, Julia Hauser, Tjebbe Kaindl and Lisa Perterer for Team Austria.

Representing Team Czech Republic will be Jakub Marek, Katerina Mickova, Filip Michalek and Kateřina Hadravova, and Team Luxemburg will have Bob Haller, Jeanne Lehair, Gregor Payet and Eva Daniels.

Henri Schoeman, Shanae Williams, Dylan Nortje and Amber Schlebusch will race for South Africa, and Japan will line up Koki Yamamoto, Yuko Takahashi, Amu Omuro and Minori Ikeno.