Great Britain win two para-triathlon titles on home course

Great Britain scored two gold medals on home soil at the 2015 London International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Para-triathlon Event on Saturday (30 May), while Australia’s four-time world champion Bill Chaffey collected his first world para-triathlon event title of the year.

Chaffey, who has been training in Europe the last month between competing at the Madrid World Para-triathlon Event and London, produced both the fastest swim and handcycle times of the day to capture the men’s PT1 title with a time of 1:00.16..

“I was disappointed last year,” Chaffey said. “I broke my hip just a day ahead of when I was supposed to leave for World Championships, but I think I am back on track and even a bit in front of where I was last year. …The competition is really high. There are more competitors than ever, the racing is tougher, which means I have got to be tougher.”

Despite trailing behind Great Britain’s Jack Peasgood on the swim and bike, Canada’s Stefan Daniel (1:00.14) soared ahead on the run to claim the men’s PT4 title.

Reigning world champion Lauren Steadman (1:09.26) continued her winning trend and campaign for the Rio 2016 Paralympics as the first woman to cross the finish line in women’s PT4. Compatriot Clare Cunningham (1:14.08), who joined Steadman on the podium at the World Championships last year, secured a one-two finish for Great Britain with silver.

“I was a bit disappointed with the swim, but the bike and run went well,” Steadman said. “I like the course and obviously it is London. I had a lot of family here (on Saturday) and I could see them on the side, so it was quite nice.”

Although the Netherlands’ Joleen Hakker led most of the race in the women’s PT5 category, Great Britain’s Melissa Reid (1:10.36) ran ahead of Hakker (1:10.50) on the three-lap run to take the title.

Despite having begun the sport just last year, Poland’s Lukasz Wietecki (1:05.47) scored his second world para-triathlon event title only weeks after his first win in Yokohama, Japan, in the men’s PT5.

Italy’s Michele Ferrarin (1:10.21) held off Russia’s Vasily Egorov (1:11.49) to win the men’s PT2. In the corresponding women’s category, the Netherlands’ Saskia Van Den Ouden (1:31.37) retained her London title with the fastest run split by more than three minutes.

In a down-to-the-line sprint finish, Alejandro Sanchez Palomero (1:09.33) beat out compatriot Daniel Molina (1:09.42) to give Spain a double podium in the men’s PT3. Mary Catherine Callahan (1:28.19) earned her second career world paratriathlon event gold of the season in women’s PT1.

Go to the ITU’s website for complete results of the 2015 London World Para-triathlon Event.