Switzerland's Team World Champions: Ruedi Wild, Lukas Salvisberg, Magali di Marco and Daniela Ryf shared the winning time of 1 hour 20 minutes and 56 seconds. Switzerland was followed by Australia in second place and Canada in third.
2009 Hy-Vee ITU Triathlon Team World Championships
June 2009 was a blockbuster month of triathlon in the U.S. One week after the Dextro Energy Triathlon - ITU World Championship series made its only stop on U.S. soil in Washington DC, the world's best triathletes made the short trip to Des Moines for a weekend that thrilled sports enthusiasts. On the weekend of June 27th, the world's best 75 men and women battled for their stake of the sport's biggest-ever prize purse. Over one million U.S. dollars was on offer for the Hy-Vee ITU Triathlon Elite Cup - the U.S. leg of the ITU Triathlon World Cup circuit - and the Hy-Vee ITU Triathlon Team World Championships.
While athletes fought it out for their share of the massive individual prize purse on Saturday, Sunday was a matter of national pride as Des Moines played host to the inaugural mixed team triathlon event. The 2009 Hy-Vee ITU Triathlon Team World Championships is the first time that the team world championships featured mixed teams of men and women, and was a landmark occasion for the sport. Teams from every corner of the globe descended on the greater Des Moines community to vie to be crowned Team Triathlon World Champions.
In this unique event which is bidding for Olympic inclusion in London 2012, teams were comprised of two men and two women. Starting with a woman from each team, each athlete will complete a triathlon at breakneck speed, along the shortened 300-meter swim, 8-kilometer bike and 2-kilometer run course, before handing off to a member of the opposite sex. The first team whose final man crosses the finish line will be crowned world champion.
In an exciting and innovative format, which will also be used in the Youth Olympic Games, the Team Mixed Relay event is one of the few Olympic sports which has a mixed team format. Teams from 23 countries and all continents participated, with many nations such as China, USA, Canada, Australia, France and Great Britain fielding multiple teams.
