GB Triathletes Taylor-Brown and Learmonth nominated for Sportswomen of the Year
Two Leeds-based athletes have been named on the shortlist for the prestigious Sunday Times Sports Women of the Year.
It was a year of great success for the two athletes by the end of 2019 which saw Jessica Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown finish second and third on the overall World Triathlon Series rankings.
2020 had been a slightly different year, however, both athletes have still managed to pull out some incredible performances. Most notably Taylor-Brown by winning the World Championships in Hamburg and coming second at the Karlovy Vary World Cup a week later. Learmonth teamed up with Taylor-Brown, Barclay Izzard and Alex Yee in Hamburg to win Mixed Relay World Championship bronze before claiming fourth in Karlovy Vary.
Both athletes have recently gained wild card spots at Challenge-Daytona to compete for the PTO 2020 Championship and the $1,000,000 prize purse.
The British triathletes are famed for their hand-held finish as they won an Olympic triathlon qualifier in Tokyo only to be disqualified after they crossed the line together. The International Triathlon Union (ITU) officials deemed the British pair were in breach of rules that state athletes must not “finish in a contrived tie situation where no effort to separate the finish times has been made”.
The pair are up against jockey Hollie Doyle, cyclist Lizzie Deignan and darts player Fallon Sherrock on the five-woman shortlist.
The winner will be chosen by a judging panel that includes Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Dame Kelly Holmes and Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill as well as many other former female sporting stars.
