Dutch paratriathlon and handcycling legend, Jetze Plat, was once again displaying his sporting versatility today at the TCS London Marathon 2023.
In October last year, Plat recorded a time of 1:30:44 when finishing fifth in what was a sprint finish for the 3rd/4th/5th positions. This time around he improved three places and almost exactly two minutes, to take second place. It will also earn him a $25,000 prize cheque too.
The Dutch dynamo
Plat is a remarkable athlete. Alongside his two Paralympic Games gold medals in paratriathlon (PTWC), he also has 10 Paracylcing World Championship gold medals, winning the time trial and road race event double on five consecutive occasions. That combination also saw him add another two Paralympic Games golds in Tokyo too.
On Monday this week Jetze was racing at another of the Marathon Majors, when he finished third in Boston. A flat tyre didn’t help his case there, but added to third at the New York City Marathon last year, it was another podium in the top tier of international wheelchair marathon races.
Boston winner, ‘silver bullet’ Marcel Hug (SUI), was once again an impressive and clear winner today, but Plat adds a third Abbott Marathon Majors podium to his incredible resume. His options for Paris 2024 are seemingly even greater.
I’ve not checked out the schedule or his plans, but is a paratriathlon / paracycling / para-athletics triple possible? You can be sure that Team Plat will be checking out the options in great detail.
Wheelchair (T53/54) London Marathon 2023 (Men)
- 1. Marcel Hug (SUI) – 1:23:44
- 2. Jetze Plat (NED) – 1:28:45
- 3. Tomoki Suzuki (JPN) – 1:30:02
- 4. Daniel Romanchuk (USA) – 1:30:18
- 5. David Weir (GBR) – 1:32:45
- 21. Bret Crossley (GBR) – 1:49:24 (British Champion)
