The third
day of Paris Test events for next year’s Paralympic and Olympic Games took to
the French capital on Saturday morning, where Tokyo 2020 champions including
home favourite Alexis Hanquinquant, Jetze Plat and USA’s Grace Norman were
among the winners.
With the
format switched due to discrepancies with the water testing in the Seine, the
athletes lined up on a revised run-bike-run duathlon format. A 1.2km link to
one lap of the 1.3km run course got things underway, transitioning on Ponte
Alexandre III for the five-lap 18.5km bike and then back onto the run for three
laps, taking in Champs Elysees and Saint German Boulevard.
PTS5
There was
late drama in the PTS5 race after Stefan Daniel had set the early pace before
Chris Hammer (USA) looked to stretch things out up front. Brazil’s Ronan
Cordeiro was then briefly to the front before Martin Schulz took control, but
there was disaster for the German after he miscounted the laps and flew through
T2 as his rivals racked their bikes.
That left
Hammer to again take control on the final run and pull away from Daniel and
Cordeiro, the Brazilian running his way into silver, the Canadian with bronze.
Somewhat more predictable was the sight of Grace Norman taking the women’s
gold, the margin of victory over Claire Cashmore (GBR) close to two minutes
after two of her strongest run segments. Canada’s Kamylle Frenette produced the
second-fastest run of the day to win bronze. “I am really excited. Last year
and this year has given me a lot of confidence and I have built a lot of
strength and so just gaining momentum into next year and I am really excited
for it,” said Norman after her race.
PTVI
She may
be new to the sport, but Germany’s Anja Renner B3 put in the kind of
performance that underlines her huge potential in the visually impaired class.
With the field split between the B1 and B3 athletes, there was work to do to
close the gap, Ukraine’s Vita Oleksiuk B1 was first into T1 but Annouck
Curzillat B1 (FRA) had a great transition to hit the bike segment out front,
Zhoomart and Renner giving chase and it was an outstanding bike that made the
difference followed by the fastest split by almost a minute. Only Francesca
Tarantello B3 could hold a torch to her on the final run, the Italian finishing
with bronze 27 seconds behind home favourite Annouck Curzillat B1 - almost
exactly the same as the amount of time she had to serve for the three penalties
accumulated.
Further
drama came at the start of the men’s PTVI, as the guide of Hector Catala
Laparra B2 lost his shoe in the duathlon start and found themselves immediately
off the pace. USA’s Kyle Coon B1 was out with Satoru Yoneoka B1 first, but was
slowly reeled in by Britain’s Dave Ellis B3 on the bike segment. Disaster for
Koon and his guide came as they miscounted the run laps and came down the blue
carpet too early, Ellis then coming home for the gold ahead of Australia’s Sam
Harding B3, Owen Cravens B3 with the bronze.
“We
realised we got to the front and knew we were in the right place. Looking
forward, it’s going to be an awesome event here next year,” said Ellis. His
guide, Luke Pollard, was equally excited about the race and the course in
Paris: " It’s a pretty special course out there, ripping around the
Champs-Élysées gives you an extra boost. It’s really good to see Pars Triathlon
get this some sort of venue.”
PTS2
Netherlands’
Maurits Morsink looked to make sure of his Paris Cup gold over the first run
segment, as he seized control with an early pace that his rivals simply
couldn’t match. Geoffrey Wersy of France had the better of Mohamed Lahna (USA)
only for the American to make up ground over the five-lap bike, so that with
Morsink out of sight with the gold it was a grandstand finish, Wersy edging
Lahna right at the line to take silver.
Australian
Anu Francis continued her ascent in the women’s PTS2 class after making the
switch from rowing, but there was little to call between the leaders heading in
to T1. USA’s Hailey Danz then hung tough on the bike as the two pulled clear of
Veronica Yoko Plebiani (ITA), but it was Francis with the big finish and a
23m28s 5km to the gold, Danz in silver and Italy’s Plebiani the bronze.
PTS3
In a
tight men’s PTS3 race it was Daniel Molina of Spain using all his experience to
set an early pace along with Hwang Tae Kim, only for the Korean to ride an
extra bike lap and end his challenge, Cedric Denuziere to dig in and ride his
way back into contention by the end of the 18.5km bike. The Spaniard remained
patient as he reeled in the Frenchman, putting together a 20m37s 5km run to the
gold, the French with silver, Nico Van Der Burgt the bronze. In the women’s
race it was Elise Marc taking the tape ahead of Sanne Koopman of Netherlands.
Further good news for the PTS3 athlete who will be looking to qualify in the
PTS4 race at Paris 2024 - her time here would have seen her second in the
class.
PTS4
Kelly
Elmlinger was in uncompromising mood as she set out on a mission to get to
grips with the Paralympic course, the American crushing the bike segment and
leaving Marta Frances Gomez in chase. Australia’s Sally Pilbeam also began well
but her challenge faded on the bike, and as Elmlinger put together an
outstanding 20m35s final 5km to take the tape by 3.5 minutes, Frances was able
to edge a tight finish after running down Germany’s Eike Van Engelen.
In the
men’s race, Pierre-Antoine Baele continued to push closer to his somewhat
untouchable teammate Alexis Hanquinquant, and there was little to call between
the field after the opening run. The same was true of the bike between the two
Frenchmen as they pulled clear of the rest of the field, Baele swift in
transition but unable to hold on to his compatriot over the closing stages as
he crossed the line for the gold he will be so eager to recreate in front of
the crowds in a year’s time. Baele finished 7 seconds back, Hideki Uda (JPN)
finishing over two minutes back for the bronze.
PTWC
Jetze
Plat H2, Geert Schipper H2 and Florian Brungraber H2 (AUT) rode together over
the opening segment to close in on leaders Ahmed Andaloussi H1 and Fathi
Zwoukhi H1. Into T1 together, Plat had the faster transition to exit with a
small lead that he would only extend over the bike, putting over 90 seconds
into his Dutch teammate and Brungraber. After passing race leader Giovanni
Achenza H1, Plat was able to relax a little over the closing stages, even as
Schipper closed the gap and ensured himself silver ahead of the Austrian.
Australia’s
Lauren Parker H1 made sure she kept the pace steady over the opening stages
before exploding on the bike to put 30 seconds into rival Kendall Gretsch H2
over the handbike. Gretsch made up ground in the second transition but even her
trademark rapid finish wasn’t sufficient to catch the Australian, Brazil’s
Jessica Ferreira H1 finishing with the bronze. “It’s important to adapt to
these situations. A duathlon doesn’t work to my strengths because I am a
swimmer, but I really had to change the mindset and focus on the positives and
just really work hard for it. Such a challenging course, lots to think about
but I am super happy to take the win today. It gives me a lot of confidence
leading into next year,” explain Parker.
The full
results can be found here.
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