Elite triathletes hope SuperTri race in Toronto will inspire more Canadians to take up sport

Canada's Charles Paquet competes during the men's individual triathlon competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

Two of Canada’s top triathletes hope that a new race in Toronto will inspire more people to take up the sport.

Charles Paquet and Mathis Beaulieu will be racing in SuperTri Toronto this Saturday, kicking off the international league’s season. They feel the short-course version of the multisport race is more exciting for spectators and, ideally, will lead to a new generation of Canadian triathletes.

“I think it’s starting to be more popular, starting to be more known,” said Paquet, who is from Port-Cartier, Que. “When I started the sport, I think people didn’t really know what triathlon was but now it’s starting to be more and more popular.

“Hopefully there’s going to be a lot of people watching and I can inspire a few people to give it a try.”

Beaulieu, from Quebec City, has similar hopes, noting that there hasn’t been an elite triathlon race in Canada for years.

“I think it could be really huge. I think it could be massive because there’s not a lot of short-course racing in Canada,” he said. “I think SuperTri is super light, dynamic, intense.

“I feel like it’s fresh, it’s new.”

SuperTri has shorter and faster formats, often with multiple short races in quick succession. An Olympic triathlon follows a standardized distance of 1.5-kilometre swim, 40-kilometre bicycle ride, and a 10-kilometre run.

The league will also hold races in Chicago in August and in Toulouse, France, in October.

In Toronto, competitors will do the Olympic distances but on shorter loops to stay within sight of spectators. That includes swimming in the sheltered waters of Ontario Place, biking on closed roads, and running along Lake Shore Boulevard and the Gardiner Expressway.

Beaulieu has one recommendation for spectators hoping to catch the best view of the race.

“Everything happens in transition,” he said. “They’re going to get to see us all get from the swim to the bike then from the bike to the run.

“Some people say that we take our time in transition, but it’s the most important thing in the triathlon. You go as fast as you can in the transition to get any advantage you can.”

Paquet and Beaulieu will both be in the professional race, but the triathlon festival will also have categories for amateurs. Paquet hopes that fans will be inspired not just by the elite of the sport but also the amateurs trying their best.

“I think that should be, hopefully, a good event to introduce people to triathlon like I was introduced to in the past,” said Paquet, who represented Canada at the 2024 Paris Olympics. “Then hopefully they can join the sport.”

The 20-year-old Beaulieu is on pace to represent Canada at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2025.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press