Rachel Wilmott finished eighth in her first world sprint triathlon in Canada.

The 26-year-old St Albans-based solicitor, who is ranked one of the world’s top ten sprint triathletes (age category 25-29), finished second among her GB competitors at the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in Edmonton.

The event attracted over 70 competitors. The triathlon event comprised of a 750m swim, a 20km bike ride and a 50km run, all outdoors. This was the pinnacle of a very successful season for Wilmott after she finished third in the British Sprint Championships in her category earlier this year.

Wilmott said: "It was a fantastic honour and experience to represent GB in Edmonton. I am back training and thoroughly looking forward to competing again next year in Chicago as I have automatically qualified. I will also be representing GB in my age category at the European Sprint Championships in Geneva next July."

After a notable career as England junior number one and seven time national squash champion, Wilmott competed in her first triathlon in 2012. She has won six out of nine events entered this year.

She also recently competed in the London Virgin Triathlon at the Excel where she came first in the ladies sprint race and 13th overall out of 1,777 competitors.