Dutch Para triathlete Jetze Plat knew he was the one to beat in Tokyo. Barely undefeated in his career, he is a force of nature. Paralympic gold in Rio 2016, five-times World Champion and after another display of magnificent form, he stormed the PTWC Men’s field to claim his second Paralympic gold in Tokyo. Austrian Florian Brungraber finished in the second place, while Italian Giovanni Achenza grabbed the bronze medal, the same one he got in Rio five years ago.
The ten best PTWC athletes of the
world lined up in Odaiba Bay this morning ready to crown the Paralympic
champion, and all eyes were set on one person: Plat. Five times world champion
from 2015-2019, the Dutch has been unbeatable in the last seasons, but arrived
in Tokyo with the uncertainty of how the extreme heat and humidity will affect
his performance. With the water in Odaiba Bay slightly over 30 degrees, it was
Australian Nic Beveridge who took the lead in the swim segment, followed close
by the Rio 2016 bronze medallist Giovanni Achenza.
A lead that both maintained during
the swim to then mount on their handbikes with the Italian on the lead. But
behind them, Platt was a man on a mission. The Dutch showed tremendous bike
skills, especially in the 180 turns with the handbike at really high speed,
moving his body to facilitate the turns. Achenza, still leading after the first
lap, was struggling with the turns and in less than two laps, Plat was already
on the lead.
From that moment, the rest of the
race was just a show of grit and determination, that never stopped until the
Dutch crossed the finish line slowly, enjoying the moment and waving to the
small crowd of coaches and athletes.
In the other race, for the rest of
the podium positions, a bad swim from Plat teammate Geert Schipper left him out
of the podium positions, while Austria’s rising star of PTWC Florian Brungraber
showed impressive skills with the racing wheelchair to climb to the second place.
Behind him, Achenza showed grit and determination to hang on in the third
place, the same one he got in rio 2016.
It was Schipper who crossed the
finish line in the fourth place, followed by France’s Ahmed Andaloussi o close
the top five positions.
“I just had to win here. It didn’t
really matter to me in what time I would finish or what the difference with
others would be. Before competition everyone always thinks that I will win
easily. Of course that worked out, but this is such a difficult sport in terms
of all the material you use, possible penalties and things that can go wrong
and all that. I knew I was in shape physically, and I just went all out. I will
compete in the cycling road time trial tomorrow, so it was important for me to
try not to waste as much energy”, said Plat after crossing the finish line.
Also incredibly proud was Bryngraber,
first medallist in para triathlon of his country. “I didn’t expect this before
the race. I hoped I could do a brilliant race today. It all looked quite well
for me the last couple of days ahead of the race to do a good job today.I only
hoped that I wouldn’t make mistakes during the race, and it seems that it
worked. It’s amazing for me”, he said.
“I feel reaffirmed, because I have
won the bronze before at Rio 2016, but do it again now, when am 50 years old…”
said Achenza, one of the oldest para triathletes in the circuit. He doesn’t seem to be close to retiring,
though. “To compete at 53 un Paris 2024 would be quite a feat, but since I got
bronze today, why not? Let’s try it again,” he explained.
Results: PTWC Men
1.Jetze Plat H2 NED 00:57:51
2.Florian Brungraber H2 AUT 00:59:55
3.Giovanni Achenza H1 ITA 01:02:05
4.Geert Schipper H2 NED 01:03:01
5.Ahmed Andaloussi H1 FRA 01:04:45
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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