GB Paratriathlon secure seven podiums – three Gold – in Tokyo

Chief Correspondent

Tokyo Test Event Gold for Steadman, Ellis and Townsend

Cancelled swim means Duathlon in Japan

Day three of racing at the ITU World Triathlon Olympic Qualification Event featured theTokyo ITU Paratriathlon World Cup, and as with Thursday’s Elite women’s race, another format change. Water quality issues the problem this time, leading to the following announcement from the ITU:

In the 5am sample, the levels show an increase but still below ITU limits. On the sample taken at 1pm the E-Coli levels had increased to more than two times over the ITU limits. In both cases, the Enterococci levels are within the limits.
Considering these results, and the data collected in the previous days, the Water Quality Risk has been declared on Level 4. The final decision of the Medical Delegate, and the three Technical Delegates, is to cancel the swim and move to a Duathlon format.

In the Paratriathlon world, that will surely have impacted the results and prospects for the Para athletes far more, given that individual restrictions / impairments can be significantly different between athletes even within the same classification. That thought was reflected on the announcement of the news by former World Champion and Rio 2016 athlete, Clare Cunningham:

Still, the race goes on and GB Paratriathlon Head Coach, Jonathan Riall was taking the positives from the announcement pre-race:

As they have consistently done for many years now at all of the major championship events, the British squad still delivered in style, with three Gold medals collected by Joseph Townsend (PTWC), Lauren Steadman (PTS5) and Dave Ellis – guided by Tim Don – in PTVI. The PTS5 division saw a Gold-Silver for Great Britain (pictured in the header image above), with Claire Cashmore making it a British one-two. Joe’s Gold was achieved despite having to push 2.5km with a punctured tyre in his race chair.

Tokyo 2019 - Jospeh Townsend / Joe Townsend

Tokyo 2019 - Dave Eliis / David Ellis / Tim Don

The Head Coach left happy – next stop, the Lausanne World Championships.

Tokyo ITU Paratriathlon World Cup – Saturday 17th August 2019
2.5km run / 20km bike / 5km run

Advertisements

GREAT BRITAIN TEAM RESULTS

PTS2 Women – Fran Brown – SILVER
PTS4 Men – Steven Crowley – NINTH
PTS4 Women – Hannah Moore – DNF
PTS5 Men – George Peasgood – BRONZE
PTS5 Women – Claire Cashmore, Lauren Steadman – GOLD (Lauren), SILVER (Claire)
PTVI Men – Dave Ellis (Guide – Tim Don) – GOLD
PTVI Women – Melissa Reid (Guide – Elle Twentyman) – SILVER
PTWC Men – Joseph Townsend – GOLD
PTWC Women – Jade Hall – FOURTH

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS

Athlete Reactions:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1QjwFzhGL2/?igshid=14blu17ux4krp

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1QUD43HAJ_/

John Levison
Written by
John Levison
TRI247's Chief Correspondent, John has been involved in triathlon for well over 30 years, 15 of those writing on these pages, whilst he can also be found commentating for events across the UK.
Latest News
Joe Skipper IRONMAN Lake Placid Results 2023
Joe Skipper steps back up to the plate with Stateside schedule to end 2023 season
Emma Pallant-Browne crosses the line at Challenge Samarkand photo credit Challenge Family
Emma Pallant-Browne now puts health first after tough day out at Challenge Samarkand
Tamara Jewett IRONMAN 703 Michigan 2023 photo credit: IRONMAN
IRONMAN 70.3 Augusta: Preview, start time and how to watch live as Sanders vs Laundry rematch
Emma Lombardi Cassandre Beaugrand WTCS Sunderland 2023 photo credit World Triathlon / Tommy Zaferes
WTCS Pontevedra scenarios: Who needs what to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games triathlon?
WTCS Cagliari 2023 podium - Alex Yee, Hayden Wilde, Leo Bergere
WTCS Pontevedra start list for Elite Men as Yee chases first world title