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Triathlon mourns after tragic death of Peter Holmes

Peter Holmes, the British Triathlon Federation’s popular press officer from 2006 until earlier this year, was killed in a tragic climbing accident in Canada at the weekend. He was 24.

Holmes’s death was decsribed by Sarah Springman, President of the BTF, as “devastating news”.

Holmes was recruited by the BTF to work in its communications department after he graduated from Loughborough University. A keen distance runner, he had competed for his hometown club, Cheltenham Harriers, at cross-country and road racing.

While working at British Triathlon, his role encompassed not only raising the profile of elite triathletes but also editing membership magazine Trinews, and so he was well-known throughout the sport.

His work at the BTF quickly got him spotted by the world governing body, the ITU, who recruited him in March this year to work at their Vancouver headquarters, what one of Holmes’s friends described as “his dream job”.

It was while out, enjoying the beautiful yet rugged mountains near his new home, that Holmes fell to his death on Saturday. According to local press reports, North Shore Search and Rescue crews were training not too far away from the incident, but couldn’t save him when they reached him.

Norman Brook, who as the then chief executive of the BTF had hired Holmes, told sportsjournalists.co.uk, “We recruited Peter straight out of University. His writing skills, creative ideas, enthusiasm and committment and contribution to organising sport and media at Loughborough University impressed us.

“He made a huge difference to our communications at the BTF, producing quality work and through his own personal communications style making many friends and fans in the sport and the media.

“His successes at British Triathlon were not missed by the International Triathlon Union who recruited him as their Communications Manager in March of this year.

“His passing has shortened what should have been a long and successful career in sport and the media.”

Springman said: “Peter was such a wonderful young man. He was a great enthusiast and had so much talent, potential and energy for so many different fields. He was extremely popular within the BTF family and was known and appreciated all around the country.

“British Triathlon was very proud of him when he was selected to go to his dream job working for ITU in Canada, and notwithstanding the very short period he was there, he was extremely good at it too.

“The triathlon world is immeasurably poorer for this tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with his parents and brother at this very sad time.”


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