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 750m. Kamylle Frenette was also in contention as a pack of four initially struck ahead.
Over the course of the 19.6km, Frenette lost a little bit of ground but remained within 20 seconds of the lead trio. Cashmore, Norman and Steadman, though, were all evenly matched. As they arrived into T2, the winner remained anyone’s guess.
However, Norman swiftly shut down any question over the identity of the winner with a scintillating transition and run. Gaining over a minute on her rivals, she powered to victory to defend her world title. In turn, Cashmore out-split Steadman by over a minute to seal the silver medal as Steadman took the bronze.
After Steadman was denied in the women’s the men’s Paralympic champion in the PTS5 event made no mistake.
Although Stefan Daniel arrived as the defending champion, Martin Schulz proved too strong on the run for his Canadian rival.
Schulz and Daniel spent practically the entire race together, having logged almost identical swim and bike splits. It was on the run that Schulz broke away, splitting 15:40 to Daniel’s 16:09 for the 5km.
Chris Hammer then took the bronze medal. After losing almost a minute in the swim, Hammer out-split the two leaders on the bike by 30 seconds. However, it would not prove enough to reel them in and he crossed 31 seconds behind Daniel.
In the men’s PTS4 race, Alexis Hanquinquant arrived as the favourite having dominated the class for half a dozen years. However, his compatriot Pierre-Antoine Baele had pushed him closer than expected in at the Paris World Para Cup. It thus remained to be seen if Hanquinquant would reign supreme once more or if his teammate would stun him.
Hanquinquant got out to a fast swim, clocking 9:28. Baele lost 30 seconds in the water and emerged behind the likes of Liam Twomey and Antonio Franko.
On the bike, Baele nibbled into Hanquinquant’s lead. However, by the time they arrived in T2, Hanquinquant still led by around 15 seconds. A superior T2 saw Hanquinquant extend his lead by 8 seconds and then the chase was on.
Baele gave it everything and reduced the gap, yet he could not get close enough to truly threaten his compatriot.
Hanquinquant therefore claimed another world title while Baele earned 2nd place. Franko then came through to finish 3rd.
The women’s PTS4 race was home to a similar dominant force. Kelly Elmlinger had not lot a race in 2023 and showed no intentions of starting in Pontevedra. She obliterated the field to win by over 3 minutes.
Hannah Moore of Britain had the best swim by a considerable margin, out-splitting Elmlinger by over a minute. Once Elmlinger got onto the bike, though, the balance of power shifted.
She powered to the fastest split in the field and took a commanding lead into the run. For good measure, she added the best run split of the field (20:17).
Marta Francés Gómez claimed the silver medal while Sally Pilbeam earned the bronze.
The women’s PTS3 race will not be contested at the 2024 Paralympic Games. However, it still offers a route to the Games. Athletes that qualify via the PTS3 path will race in the PTS4 event in Paris. Although those racing will potentially have to take on Elmlinger next year, in Pontevedra the PTS3 women faced Elise Marc.
The French woman was hunting a third world title and arrived as the favourite. Her status was justified as she won by over 11 minutes. Kenia Yesenia Villalobos Vargas won the silver medal while Sanne Koopman won the bronze.
The men’s PTS3 race saw two Spanish talents eye up the world title. In the end, it was Daniel Molina that brought the fireworks for the home crowd as he won gold.
Molina led the way in the swim, earning a 5 second advantage over Nico Van Der Burgt. Although he dropped Van Der Burgt on the bike, German athlete Max Gelhaar came flying past him. Molina did not panic, though. He stemmed the flow of seconds and then used a rapid T2 to eat into Gelhaar’s lead.
Then, on the run, he pounced.
With a field-leading split of 20:06, he overhauled his German rival to claim gold in front of a home audience. Gelhaar came through to seal the silver medal while Cedric Denuziere earned the bronze medal ahead of Van Der Burgt.
In the women’s PTS2 event, three American athletes have sustained an era of preeminence since the 2016 Paralympic Games. Between them, Hailey Danz, Melissa Stockwell and Allysa Seely have compiled a quantity of medals that would Smaug jealous.
In Pontevedra, though, they faced off against the rising Anu Francis of Australia.
The three Americans out-swam Francis, with Danz securing the lead. Danz then defended her advantage on the bike. However, Francis blasted ahead of Stockwell and Seely. Out of T2, she set her sights on Danz.
Throughout the run, it was clear that Francis was the quicker athlete. At every kilometre, the gap dwindled and in the final stretches it almost looked like Francis would catch her target. Danz, however, held on to claim the win by 23 seconds.
Francis took a hard-earned silver medal while Seely earned the bronze.
Finally, after a difficult day at the Paris World Para Cup, the defending world champion Jules Ribstein reasserted his credentials by roaring to victory in Pontevedra.
In one of the tightest races of the day, Ribstein arrived in T2 with Mohamed Lahna for company and Lionel Morales close behind. Maurits Morsink, the fastest runner in the field, was also a couple of minutes behind but had the capacity to shut down the gap.
Ribstein pushed into the lead on the run but Lahna did not go away without a fight. Morsink also rattled through the first two kilometres at a brutal piece to hack into Ribstein’s lead.
In the final kilometre, though, Ribstein’s experience told. He gathered himself and pushed for the line. Lahna crossed some 20 seconds later while Morsink took bronze, 46 seconds behind Ribstein.
Check out the full results here.
