At the fifth World Paratriathlon Event of the year, Great Britain scored two gold medals on home soil in London, while four-time World Champion Bill Chaffey (AUS) collected his first WPE title of the year.
Chaffey, who has been training in Europe the last month between competing at the Madrid World Paratriathlon Event and London, produced both the fastest swim and hand cycle of the day for the men’s PT1 title.
“I was disappointed last year, I broke my hip just a day ahead of when I was supposed to leave for World Championships, but I think I’m back on track and even a bit in front of where I was last year,” Chaffey said. “The competition is really high. There are more competitors than ever, the racing is tougher, which means I’ve got to be tougher.”
Despite trailing behind Great Britain’s Jack Peasgood (GBR) on the swim and bike, Canada’s Stefan Daniel soared ahead on the run to claim the men’s PT4 title.
Reigning World Champion Lauren Steadman continued her winning trend and campaign for Rio as the first woman to cross over the finish line in women’s PT4. Compatriot Clare Cunningham, who joined Steadman on the podium at World Championships last year, secured a 1-2 finish for Great Britain with silver.
“I was a bit disappointed with the swim, but the bike and run went well,” Steadman said. “I like the course and obviously it’s London. I had a lot of family here today and I could see them on the side, so it was quite nice.”
Although Joleen Hakker B1 (NED) led most of the race, Melissa Reid (GBR) ran ahead of the Dutch athlete on the three-lap run to take the London title in front of a home country crowd.
Despite having begun the sport just last year, Łukasz Wietecki (POL) scored his second World Paratriathlon Event title only weeks after his first win in Yokohama.
While Vasily Egorov (RUS) gained important ground on the run, it wasn’t enough to reel in Italy’s Michele Ferrarin in the men’s PT2. In the women’s sport class, Saskia Van Den Ouden (NED) retained her London title with the fastest run split by more than three minutes.
In a down to the line sprint finish, Alejandro Sanchez Palomero beat out compatriot Daniel Molina to give Spain a 1-2 finish in the men’s PT3. Mary Catherine Callahan earned her second career World Paratriathlon Event gold in women’s PT1.