Alberte Kjaer Pedersen (DEN) and Ben Dijkstra (GBR) qualified for the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games in style as they took victory in the sprint distance qualifier in Weert, Netherlands.

Europe has been awarded eleven places per gender for the individual triathlon event in Nanjing but only one place per National Federation. Therefore, before the race the athletes knew that even a top ten finish may not be enough to secure qualification for the individual race.

Pedersen made sure of her place in a thrilling women’s race, with the podium separated by just three seconds. Carmen Gomez (ESP) finished second and qualified for Nanjing ahead of her team-mate Cecilia Santamaria Surroca (ESP) who claimed the bronze medal.

In the Men’s race, Dijkstra enjoyed a more comfortable victory ahead of Dmitry Efimov (RUS) and Peer Sonksen (GER), who completed the podium.

A Mixed Relay competition will take place tomorrow with teams made up of the best four athletes (2 men and 2 women) based on today’s results.

A live stream of the Mixed Relay event can be found here. Broadcast will start at 1330 CEST with the race scheduled to start at 1345 CEST).