One of triathlon’s brightest young stars, Germany’s Tim Hellwig seems destiny for great glory. Not that his trophy cabinet is exactly empty already…
Here's everything you need to know about Herr Hellwig.
Who is Tim Hellwig?
A strong performer since his days as a junior, Tim Hellwig has been no stranger to podiums across his triathlon career. He’s won both WTCS races and a world gold.
Still on the sunny side of 25, his steady, consistent performances are helping to push his country back towards the top of the men’s triathlon tree, having ceded ground to Britain, France and Norway over recent years.
Born in the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Tim made steady progress through the junior and U23 ranks, proving especially adept at handling the explosive nature of sprint events.
National titles and European championship medals dotted the earlier days of his career.
His breakthrough season came in 2021 where success followed success. His medal haul – at both U23 and elite level – was particularly impressive that year, but one race in particular stood out.
Having never before graced the top 10 of a WTCS elite race, Tim stormed the Hamburg event that September, pipping France’s Paul Georgenthum in a heart-stopping photo-finish.
That the Frenchman was competing in his first-ever WTCS race possibly signalled that the changing of the guard was happening.
As it was, the following season was decidedly anticlimactic for Tim and failed to consolidate on the achievements of the previous year.
But he stormed back to form in 2023, with a pair of victories in the African Triathlon Cup and two more in the Asian legs of the World Cup.
Between these, though, came his first world crown, back in Hamburg, as part of the German mixed-relay quartet, as well as victory in the Paris Test Event mixed relay.
With many years of competition still in his legs, it surely won’t be this highly competitive young man’s only global title.
How old is Tim Hellwig?
Tim Hellwig was born on 30 June 1999, making him 24 years of age.
Tim Hellwig’s career highlights
July 2016: An early taste of glory
Having just turned 17, Tim takes victory at the Junior European Cup race in Tabor in the Czech Republic. Posting the quickest run time allows him to establish an eight-second margin of victory over the field.
July 2017: A first national title
Tim is crowned as Germany’s junior men triathlon champion, thanks again to a dominant run. He follows up the triumph next month with fourth in the elite race at the national sprint championships.
July 2018: A European silver for the trophy cabinet
Having retained his junior national title three weeks earlier, Tim travels to the European championships in the Estonian city of Tartu where he takes junior silver behind Norway’s Vetle Bergsvik Thorn.
June 2019: An elite showing in the Netherlands
Tim registers his first elite top-10 finish outside Germany when he takes sixth place in an ETU sprint race in the Dutch town of Holten. He is the third German home, behind third-placed Jannik Schaufler and winner Lasse Nygaard Priester.
October 2019: A maiden appearance on an elite podium
Tim continues to announce himself on the elite scene when his third place at the ETU Sprint European Cup Final in Funchal in Portugal puts him among the medals.
June 2021: The king of Germany
After a COVID-affected season, Tim becomes Germany’s national sprint champion. As is becoming a pattern of his palmares, his strength on the run is what allows him to overcome the advantage his rivals had built up on him.
June 2021: Another European silver
In the U23 race at the European sprint championships in Kitzbühel, Tim adds another medal to his collection when he crosses the line just a second behind the new champion, Portugal’s Ricardo Batista. Tim’s time sees him also finish in sixth among the elite men.
August 2021: First major showing on the world stage
Another silver is pocketed at the WTCS championship finals in Edmonton where, in the Olympic-distance U23 race, Tim is pipped on the run by Hungary’s Csongor Lehmann.
September 2021: A shock WTCS gold in Hamburg
Already enjoying what has clearly been his breakthrough season so far, Tim secures the biggest win of this career thus far when he wins the elite race at the Hamburg leg of the WTCS series.
Helped by the race being over the familiar sprint distance, Tim breaks the tape in a photo-finish with France’s Paul Georgenthum, who takes silver on his series debut.
The following day, Tim makes it double gold as part of Germany’s victorious mixed relay quartet, leading home the team ahead of Italy, despite incurring a potentially disastrous 10-second penalty.
April 2022: Victory in southern Africa
Tim starts of the new season well, comfortably winning the Africa Triathlon Cup race in the Namibian resort of Swakopmund ahead of compatriot Valentin Wernz.
On the whole, though, the 2022 season is a disappointment, with only one other top-10 finish – an eighth place at the national sprint championships.
May 2023: Double success in north Africa
Tim kicks off the new campaign in fine style, notching up African Triathlon Cup wins in both M’diq in Morocco and the Tunisian coastal town of Yasmine Hammamet.
June 2023: Strong showing in Montreal
Tim’s impressive form continues in his first race of the WTCS series, coming fourth in Montreal, where he loses out on bronze to the Belgian Jelle Geens by just a second.
He has, however, claimed the reigning Olympic champion, Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt, among his scalps.
July 2023: A first world championship gold
Back in his happy hunting-ground of Hamburg, Tim claims his first world title when he leads off the triumphant German mixed relay squad.
August 2023: Testing Paris out for size
As encouragement that he might be capable of sneaking into the medals at the Paris Olympics, Tim comes a solid seventh at the test event in the French capital. In the lead group coming out of T2, he slips back on the run, finishing 24 seconds behind the winner, Britain’s Alex Yee.
Two days later he races the first leg for the ultimately triumphant Team Germany Mixed Relay Team.
September 2023: A tight finish in Spain
The WTCS finals in Pontevedra are another indicator of Tim’s standing among the world’s triathlon elite. After filing the fastest run leg, he takes silver in a three-way dip for the tape, splitting the French pair of Dorian Coninx (the new world champ) and third-placed Pierre Le Corre.
October 2023: Double gold in Asia
At season’s end, Tim emphasises his impressive consistency with two World Cup wins in the Far East: first, an Olympic-distance victory in Chengdu in China before, a week later, sprint success in the South Korean city of Tongyeong.
Tim Hellwig in quotes
On notching up his first WTCS race win in Hamburg in 2021 after the tightest of photo-finishes: “There’s no better place in the world to win your first WTCS race than here at home. It’s a special feeling. I think I timed it perfectly. It was so close in the end.”
On rounding off last season on a high with a World Cup victory in South Korea: “It has been an amazing 2023, so to finish it off with another gold sums up an almost perfect year for me.”
What’s next for Tim Hellwig?
Still only 24, Tim Hellwig remains one of European triathlon’s most promising prospects. He has all the hallmarks of a future world champion and will be looking to climb a few more WTCS podiums this season to properly cement his place at the sport’s top table.
And, as an athlete capable of pulling a surprise result out of the bag, don’t be surprised if he puts himself in contention for an Olympic medal in Paris come late July.
Top image credit: World Triathlon
