World Triathlon Series: Jodie Stimpson to race at Gold Coast

Jodie Stimpson won Commonwealth gold at Glasgow 2014 but was not selected for the Rio 2016 Olympics

Reigning Commonwealth champion Jodie Stimpson will be the sole British athlete at Saturday's World Triathlon Series event at Gold Coast, the venue for the 2018 Games.

Stimpson, 28, took silver in the opening race of the 2017 series in Abu Dhabi last month after losing a sprint finish to New Zealand's Andrea Hewitt.

The women's elite race starts at 04:55 BST, with the men's event at 06:55.

Athletes will compete over a sprint distance course in Australia.

The individual races at next year's Commonwealth Games will also take place over the sprint distance - consisting of a 750m swim, 20km cycle and 5km run - although it is yet to be confirmed that Saturday's course will be used.

Stimpson won gold for England at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on a full Olympic distance course.

Under Triathlon England's selection policy, Olympic medallists can qualify for Gold Coast 2018 with a top-five finish in any World Series event this year, but Stimpson missed out on selection for Rio 2016 in favour of Helen Jenkins.

Stimpson can instead make the selection if she finishes in the top five, with only two Commonwealth athletes ahead of her, at the event in Hamburg, Germany on 15-16 July - though selectors will consider other results, including this weekend, if the squad is not filled after the series ends in September.

In the men's race, reigning World Series champion Mario Mola takes on fellow Spaniard and five-time champion Javier Gomez.

Britain's Rio 2016 silver medallist Jonathan Brownlee is expected to race at the next round of the series in Yokohama, Japan on 13 May.