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Last weekend saw Piranha Triathlon Club and Triathlon Ireland host a Junior European Cup in Dublin, the first European race in Ireland in over ten years.

The race provided a number of up and coming young Irish athletes with the chance to race against some of the best of their European counterparts. A number of familiar names were in action, with Mathys Bocquet claiming the best Irish result of the day with 5^th in the Men’s race, while Saoirse O’Brien took home 9^th in the Women’s race.

One of the major bonuses for hosting an event such as this is the increased number of local athletes who will have had the chance to experience a race of this level for the first time. Indeed Triathlon Ireland was represented by ten athletes in the Junior Men’s event, and seven in the Women’s.

The last European Triathlon result held in Ireland was the 2010 Athlone ETU Triathlon European Championships. The event saw Russell White don an Irish tri-suit for the first time; coming in 47^th in a large field just 40 seconds ahead of Tokyo Olympic Gold medallist Kristian Blummenfelt.

White was back in action over the weekend, and showing his previous form, racing in World Triathlon Cup Weihai finishing in 13^th place and gaining some valuable ranking points towards Paris 2024.