Hampshire’s first ever Triathlon Expo has been hailed a success.

The landmark event was hosted at the Decathlon store on West Quay retail park and organised by local coach and former Commonwealth Games athlete Dave Savage.

Local triathletes flocked to the Expo which featured exhibitors from across the sport coming along to show off their wares and a range of seminars.

Star attraction was swimmer Peter Hull MBE who fascinated the crowds with stories of how he bagged three gold medals in the 1992 Paralympics, despite being born without legs and arms ending at the elbow.

Savage himself also attracted sizeable audiences as he discussed various aspects of triathlon training and was in demand as triathletes picked his brain as to how to get the best out of themselves, their training and their races.

Triathlon is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, and is enjoying a boom in Britain after the Brownlee brothers captured the imagination of the nation with their gold and bronze medal winning exploits at the London Olympics.

Savage, left, who launched his new ‘Savage Squad’ tri club at the event, said: “The Tri Expo took a lot of organising but I am delighted with the response we got.

“I want to thank Decathlon, all the exhibitors, the people who gave such fantastic seminars and all those who turned up to support it.

“Triathlon is booming at the moment and this showed how much potential there is for it in our area.”