Grandstand tickets go on sale for the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds

Today sees the launch of the grandstand tickets for the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds, taking place on Sunday 12 June.

Officially on sale to the general public from 09:00am on Friday 8 April, grandstand ticketholders will be able enjoy unsurpassed views of the thrilling racing action from the comfort of their seat overlooking the finish line in the heart of Millennium Square.

The much-anticipated Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds, which is part of UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded #EveryRoadtoRio event series, will provide the British public with the opportunity to watch local heroes Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee, as well as other leading GB triathletes including Non Stanford and Vicky Holland, battle for glory against some of the world’s best triathletes in their last race on home soil ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Ticketholders will see the elite athletes pass them seven times on the bike and four times on the run, as well as witnessing the conclusion of the races, which often end with a thrilling sprint finish. A big screen will be located opposite the grandstand showing the live BBC coverage so that ticketholders can stay up to speed with the race whilst it momentarily goes out of view.

Available to purchase from: http://purchase.tickets.com/buy/TicketPurchase?agency=LEEDS_CC&organ_val=21996&pid=8219898 tickets will be priced at £30 for adults and £20 for children (U15s). With the women’s race starting at 13:00 and the men’s at 15:45, ticket holders can expect well over four hours of live triathlon action. Organisers are anticipating demand to be extremely high and are encouraging individuals to secure their tickets today to avoid disappointment.

Simon Morton, Chief Operating Officer at UK Sport, said: "The Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Series Leeds ‎is one of the final events on our National Lottery funded #EveryRoadtoRio campaign, which set out to showcase our athletes’ journey to the Games and boost their preparations through home crowd support. Leeds will provide a spectacular setting for this final send off for our triathletes and I'm sure the passionate home crowd will witness some fantastic performances from Britain's Rio medal contenders."

Councillor Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council, commented: “We are very excited to be welcoming the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds this June, and the opportunity for fans to be in the grandstand and watch all the action overlooking the finish line on Millennium Square promises to be a truly unforgettable experience.”

Jack Buckner, Chief Executive of British Triathlon, said: “The Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds is the final opportunity to watch Britain’s world-class triathletes race on home soil before they travel to Rio and we are expecting the city of Leeds to come out in force. The grandstand is located in the heart of the action and will provide the perfect location to watch the stars of our sport cross the finish line and deliver an atmosphere to remember.”

Speaking of the grandstand ticket launch, Rupert Pybus, Global Head of Brand and Marketing at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, added: “We are very proud to be the title sponsor of the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds 2016. We hope that you will all join us at, what promises to be, a fantastic weekend of sport in Leeds, where you will be able to see some of the best home grown talent compete before a great summer of sport. It’s going to be a thrilling event and we are fortunate that it is being hosted in such a historic city. We look forward to seeing everyone there.”

In addition to offering individuals the opportunity to watch the elite races, the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds, organised by British Triathlon in partnership with Leeds City Council, also provides recreational triathletes with the unique opportunity to compete on the same course as the elite athletes across a range of different distances, suitable for first timer’s right through to experienced triathletes. A limited number of entries are still available for both the Saturday and Sunday events – for more information please visit: http://leeds.triathlon.org/enter_now/.

For the latest information on the Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds, please visit http://leeds.triathlon.org.

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For more information please contact Christian Dente or Rebecca Armstrong on 0113 8800 444 or email Christian.dente@aberfield.com or Rebecca.armstrong@aberfield.com

Notes to editors

The Columbia Threadneedle World Triathlon Leeds is a partnership between British Triathlon, Leeds City Council, UK Sport, ITU and Lagardère Sports, with Columbia Threadneedle as the main title sponsors of the event.

About Columbia Threadneedle Investments

Columbia Thread needle Investments is a leading global asset management group that provides a broad range of actively managed investment strategies and solutions for individual, institutional and corporate clients around the world. With more than 2000 people including over 450 investment professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia, we manage £320 billion ¹ of assets across developed and emerging market equities, fixed income, asset allocation solutions and alternatives.

Columbia Threadneedle Investments started its successful relationship with the ITU World Series in 2013 and has since become Global Financial Services Partner.www.columbiathreadneedle.com

All figures as at 31 December 2015. Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.

¹ Source: Ameriprise Financial Q4 2015 earnings release.

The Columbia Threadneedle Rankings

As a global asset manager Columbia Threadneedle Investments recognises the importance of being the best in the field, not just at home, but on a global basis. The Columbia Threadneedle Rankings are used to determine the best performing triathletes across the ITU World Triathlon Series.

The Columbia Threadneedle Rankings Leader Trophy is presented to the top male and female elite athlete at each ITU World Triathlon Series event. In 2016 the Columbia Threadneedle Rankings Leader will continue to wear the bespoke race markings and carry the colours of the Columbia Threadneedle Rankings logo on their bike rack in transition.

Launched in 2015, the Columbia Threadneedle Rankings Report identifies the trends and interesting statistics after each event throughout the season.

The official Columbia Threadneedle Rankings can be accessed at www.wts.triathlon.org/ColumbiaThreadneedleRankings. Engage with the conversation on social media using the hashtag #CTrankings, or follow @CTinvest_Tri

British Triathlon is the governing body for the sport in Great Britain. It is responsible for raising the profile and delivering elite performance for Triathlon. Triathlon is a fast growing, dynamic and modern Olympic & Paralympic sport with talented world class athletes, coaches and support staff, focused around delivering world-class events and medal winning performances. www.britishtriathlon.org

Leeds City Council is the second-largest local authority in England with a population of around 776,000. Leeds has a very proud sporting heritage and we are committed to encouraging sport as a way of promoting the city and healthy lifestyles, as well as bringing world-class events, building towards our ambition to become European Capital of Culture 2023. www.leeds.gov.uk

UK Sport is the nation’s high performance sports agency responsible for the strategic investment of National Lottery and Exchequer funding into Olympic and Paralympic sports and bringing major sporting events to the UK. www.uksport.gov.uk/events

The ITU is the world governing body for the Olympic sport of Triathlon and all related MultiSport disciplines. ITU is proudly committed to supporting the development of the sport worldwide through strong relationships with continental and national federations, working with its partners to offer a balanced sport development programme from grassroots to a high performance level. www.triathlon.org