The PTVI classification refers to athletes that compete with visual impairment, varying from totally blindness to partially sighted (from B1 to B3). Each athlete must race with a guide and completes the bike leg on a tandem. A full breakdown of the World Triathlon categories can be found here.
In order to equalise the race, female B2 and B3 athletes received an additional 3 minutes 19 seconds to their time while male B2 and B3 athletes received 2 minutes 46 seconds.
Rodriguez Extends Winning Run
Susan Rodriguez (B1) of Spain took gold in Abu Dhabi to complete a perfect season of victories. The Tokyo Paralympic champion lost ground over the swim as silver medallist Francesca Tarantello (B3) swim a field-leading 11:07. The next fastest swimmer was Brit Alison Peasgood (B3) with a time of 11:58. Despite being over two minutes down on Tarantello, Rodriguez remained calm.
She powered to the fastest bike split of the day in a 32:10, almost catching Peasgood. She then proceeded to record the third fastest run of the day to put herself in prime position to take the win.
Tarantello, however, proved a difficult opponent to overcome. She lost only 21 seconds to Rodriguez on the bike and then rallied to record the only sub-20 minute 5km run of the field with a 19:53. As a B3 athlete, though, Tarantello had to build a lead of at least 3 minutes 19 seconds to take the victory. As much as she pushed, she could not quite shake off Rodriguez.
Instead, the tenacious Rodriguez pushed on and finished in a total time of 1:08:11. Once the equalisation had taken place, she won by 32 seconds over Tarantello.
As the youngest woman in the field, Tarantello could take heart from her performance. She was the only starter born in this century (2002) and made her first international start in May of this year. In a season in which she has taken her first international medals and wins, taking second at her first world championships is a great way to cap off her year. In the coming years, we can expect several more battles between Rodriguez and Tarantello.
Dave Ellis does what Dave Ellis does
Since an unfortunate DNF at the Tokyo Paralympics, Dave Ellis (B3) has been on a tear. He took the world title in 2021 and has been unbeaten throughout 2022.
Coming into Abu Dhabi, it therefore seemed clear how the race would pan out. After the swim, the race seemed to be following the script. Ellis jumped out to an early lead by recording the only sub-10 minute split over the 750m (9:58), buidling a 40 second lead over French rival Thibaut Rigaudeau (B2). If that was supposed to be that, someone forgot to tell Rigaudeau.
The Frenchman powered through the bike and caught Ellis as he logged a 27:41 split. The two men were inseparable out of T2 and so it came down to a foot race. Although Rigaudeau put in a valiant effort, Ellis was too strong and pulled clear with a 16:15 5km. By the end of the race, he won in comfort.
Rigaudeau came home in second, exactly one minute ahead of compatriot Antoine Perel (B1) who took bronze. Perel logged the best performance by a B1 athlete.
You can view the full results here.
