Undefeated all season long. Three times World Champion. Three times European Champion. And now the magnificent French Alexis Hanquinquant has a new title to add to his extensive collection: Paralympic Champion in the PTS4 class at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Second on the finish line today in Odayba Bay was Japanese hero Hideki Uda, first time that his country earns a medal in Para Triathlon, while Spaniard Alejandro Sanchez Palomero claimed bronze.
The morning started early on
extremely humid conditions at Odaiba Bay with 10 men lining up in the PTS4
class for a sprint distance race: a single 750m lap of the Bay, followed by
four 5km laps of a flat and technical bike course towards Ariake Tennis Park
then heading north over Fujimi Bridge and doubling back towards Odaiba. The
final run segment will see four laps of 1.25km, finishing in front of the
grandstands on Odaiba Beach.
Michael Taylor (GBR) and Alexis Hanquinquant
took the lead from the first strokes of the swim, opening a significant breach
with the rest of the field. Halfway through the Frenchman went solo, and by the
time the 750m swim was over, Hanquinquant had a lead of 29 seconds over Taylor,
and more than a minute and a half with the rest of the field.
Once they were on their bikes, it was
clear that Hanquinquant was a man on a mission: the Paralympic gold. And he did
deliver. Behind him, Spaniard Palomero went full gas to chase the British, and
it was only a matter of one lap to not only chase him, but leave him behind. In
fourth place, China’s Jiaochao Wang was struggling trying to stay in the fourth
place after a swim that proved t be exhausting for most of the athletes.
The 20km bike course was once again
another magnificent display of Hanquinqnat, opening a gap of over two minutes
with Palomero even if riding solo for the whole bike course. Behind him, the
Spaniard was able to show great bike skills even with just one arm, and in a
technical circuit like the one in Tokyo, with multiple turns. Behind the two
leaders, Taylor was clearly suffering after a tough swim as well, and it was
Wang who positioned himself in third place before heading onto the second
transition.
When it all came to the run,it was
clear that no one could stop Hanquinquant, who even despite a small fall during
the run, managed to cross the finish line all smiles to claim his first-ever
Paralympic gold medal, the first time a French paratriathlete is on tp of the
podium at Paralympics, and also with one of the biggest leads in Para triathlon
history. It was almost four minutes after when Hideki Uda, one of the best
runners on the field, crossed the finish line in second place, to give his home
nation, Japan, its first-ever Para triathlon medal at the Paralympic Games.
The third place was for Palomero,
cheered by fellow athletes when he was running the last meters in the blue
carpet before crossing the finish line, while China’s Wand and Antonio Franko
(CRO) crossed the top five.
One of the newest athletes of the
field, Eric McElveny, finished in 6th place and Jorge Fonseca in 7th, followed
by Michael Taylor, Jamie Brown (USA) and Mikhail Kolmakov (RPC).
“Today was just incredible”, said
Hanquinquant after crossing the finish line. “Today was a really hard day, with
the humidity. To swim and to bike was OK, but on the run I really struggled.
This is a dream for me. The people here in Japan are fantastic, always
supporting. Thank you so much to everyone, and I hope to repeat this in Paris”,
he said.
“I am extremely happy. Just to be
able to compete with such incredible rivals is just an honor”, said Uda.
Results: PTS4 Men
1.Alexis Hanquinquant FRA 00:59:58
2.Hideki UdabJPN 01:03:45
3.Alejandro Sánchez Palomero ESP 01:04:24
4.Jiachao Wang CHN 01:04:54
5.Antonio Franko CRO 01:05:49
ABOUT WORLD TRIATHLON
World Triathlon is the international
governing body for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of triathlon and all
related multisport disciplines around the world, including duathlon, aquathlon,
cross triathlon and winter triathlon. Triathlon made its Olympic debut in
Sydney 2000, with a third medal event, the Mixed Team Relay, added to the
programme at Tokyo 2020, while para triathlon was first added to the Paralympic
programme at Rio 2016. World Triathlon is proudly committed to the development
of the sport worldwide, with inclusion, equality, sustainability and
transparency at our core as we seek to help triathletes at all levels of the
sport to be extraordinary.
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