Category: Para-Triathlon

On 1st July 2024, the qualification window for this year’s Paralympic Games will close, putting us a smidge past the midpoint of the window. In this article, we delve into the latest standings in each classification and assess who might be able to stage a comeback in the second half of the qualifying window to book their slot in Paris. As a reminder, there are 120 slots available for triathletes at the 2024 Paralympic Games of which 54 will be allocated to male athletes and 50 to female athletes. The…

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Spain played host to a second World Para Cup of 2023 in Malaga at the weekend. As had been the case in A Coruna back in July, the home team filled their boots with gold medals. In the women’s PTWC class, Eva María Moral Pedrero claimed the gold medal for the home team after edging out Melissa Nicholls by 22 seconds. Nicholls had taken the lead in the swim, but Moral came back on the bike. The Spanish athlete then held on to take the win, one of several for…

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Only a couple of weeks removed from the World Para-Triathlon Championships in Pontevedra, several of the best Para-Triathletes in the world were back on the blue carpet at the World Para Cup in Alhandra. Having claimed a fourth world title in the PTS2 category a fortnight prior, Jules Ribstein of France cruised to another win. His compatriot, Stephane Bahier, provided an early challenge. Over the course of the race, though, Ribstein built a lead of over 2 minutes an won with ease. Bahier took the silver medal while Gianluca Valori…

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In addition to the nail-biting PTVI and PTWC races at the World Para-Triathlon Championships in Pontevedra, the PTS classes saw a series of brilliant performances. The women’s PTS5 event promised to be one of the headline events and it did not disappoint. Lauren Steadman, the Tokyo Paralympic champion, arrived in Spain looking to correct a run of defeats to Grace Norman. The 2021 world champion, Claire Cashmore, was equally sniffing around for another global title. The trio emerged together after the swim, with Cashmore leading having split 11:02 for the…

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Based on the evidence of the World Para-Triathlon Championships last year, it would have taken a brave gamble to bet against Dave Ellis and Susana Rodriguez repeating their respective triumphs in the PTVI class. Both had been imperious in Abu Dhabi in 2022 and it seemed unlikely that either would be beaten anytime soon. Nevertheless, when they arrived in Pontevedra to tackle the 2023 World Championships a coterie of challengers were ready and waiting to take their shots at the wearers of the crowns. Among the men, Ellis (B3), faced…

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The PTWC races at the World Para-Triathlon Championships in Pontevedra saw a contrasting pair of races. In the women’s event, Kendall Gretsch (H2) of America and Lauren Parker (H1) of Australia renewed their long-running rivalry. Between them, they had won the gold and silver medals at the Tokyo Olympics but Parker had since reigned undefeated. Having not been able to find a way past her rival all season, Gretsch arrived in Spain with the knowledge that she would have to pull out all of the stops to take the gold. Due to…

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The Paris World Para Cup offered a selection of the best Para-triathletes in the world the chance to test two-thirds of the course for next year’s Paralympic Games. A last-minute switch was made after the water quality in the Seine prevented the swim from taking place. As a result, the athletes took on a duathlon. The event had attracted an array of serious talent, including Paralympic champions Jetze Plat, Martin Schulz and Alexis Hanquinquant. PTWC Plat made no mistake in the men’s PTWC race and won by almost a minute.…

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The fourth and final World Para Series event of 2023 took place in Swansea at the weekend. With the World Para Cup in Long Beach coinciding with the competition, some athletes were forced into strategic choices over where to race to maximise their points. However, inclement weather meant that the racing in Swansea had to be switched to an aquathlon at the last minute. As a result, the points on offer were reduced by 25%. The switch also affected the racing itself. With the 20km bike removed, a 750m swim…

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With the qualification window for the 2024 Paralympic Games open, world-level Para-Triathlon events have been coming thick and fast. The World Para Cup in Long Beach came barely a week after the World Para Series stop in Montreal, offering a two bites at the apple in North America for athletes to score points towards their Paralympic ranking. After the Spanish team impressed at the previous World Para Cup in A Coruna, it fell to the American team to make some noise on home turf. PTWC After his win in Montreal,…

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The third stop of the World Para Series in Montreal, Canada, saw a number of tight battles for the gold. With points towards qualification for next year’s Paralympic Games on the line, several athletes also stepped up to lay down an early marker. PTWC Prior to Devonport earlier in the year, Howie Sanborn had never won a World Para Series event. From the start of the race in Montreal, Nic Beveridge and Jumpei Kimura were intent upon proving that the Americas champion’s win was an anomaly. Beveridge pushed a high…

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The were several reasons for Spain to be happy at the end of the World Para Cup in A Coruna. With wins across a number of classifications, there were plenty of home athletes to celebrate at the top of the podium. In addition, A Coruna represented the first race of the Paralympic Qualification window. Success therefore meant a head start in the race to qualify for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. PTS One of the biggest Spanish triumphs of the day came as Lionel Morales upset Geoffrey Wersy in…

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Tomorrow, on 1st July, the window for Paralympic Qualification will open. Over the coming year, the best Para-triathletes in the world will race to secure their spot in Paris before the window closes on 1st July 2024. How does the qualification system work? In total there are 120 slots available for triathletes at the 2024 Paralympic Games. 54 will be allocated to male athletes, 50 to women and then 16 will be reserved to be assigned independently of gender. Those final 16 slots are allocated for the Bipartite Commission to…

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The second World Para Cup of the year took place in Besancon, France, yesterday. After strong showings at the first World Para Cup of the season in Abu Dhabi, several home favourites such as Antoine Besse were looking to impress in front of a home audience. The headline race of the weekend, though, was the match-up between Grace Norman and Laura Steadman in the women’s PTS5 classification. Steadman claimed Paralympic gold in Tokyo while Norman was a Paralympic champion in Rio de Janeiro in the quad prior. With the road…

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The second World Para Series event of the season took place in Yokohama at the weekend. You can read the breakdown of the first race in Devonport here. PTWC Lauren Parker won the women’s PTWC classification after a close battle with Kendall Gretsch. Parker and Gretsch had identical times in swim, with both recording splits of 12:09. While Parker had the better bike split, Gretsch enjoyed the superior run. In the end, once the difference of 3 minutes 38 seconds between H1 and H2 athletes was factored in, Parker won…

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The first stop of the World Para Series took place in Devonport, Australia, at the weekend. This year there will be four stops in the Series in total, with the next events taking place in Yokohama, Montreal and Swansea. PTVI In the women’s race, Maggie Sandles beat Maria Williams. After being comfortably ahead in each discipline, Sandles won by a margin of over 20 minutes. Notably, Sandles was only born in 2002 and so will be an athlete to expect plenty from over the coming seasons. On the men’s side,…

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