The Paris 2024 Paralympic Triathlon course is a beast. From the River Seine swim to the split transitions onto a fast, iconic and cobbled bike down the Champs-Elysees to a run courses lined with thousands of screaming fans, the French capital will provide the ultimate backdrop for the 750m swim, 20km bike and 5km run to the Paralympic medals.
On Monday 2 September, the athletes will go out from 08:15am in the hunt for glory. Here’s our breakdown of when to watch and what to expect:
08:15am Start PTWC1 Men (PTWC2 wave +3mins)
08:20am Start PTWC1 Women (PTWC2 wave +3m38s)
09:25am Start PTS3 Men
09:30am Start PTS2 Men
09:35am Start PTS2 Women
12:00am Start PTVI1 Men (PTVI 2/3 +2m41s)
12:05am Start PTVI1 Women (PTVI 2/3 +3m11)
12:20am Start PTS5 Men
12:25am Start PTS4 Men
12:35am Start PTS5 Women
12:40am Start PTS4 Women
The Swim
The one-lap swim has a pontoon start on the western side of the Ponte Alexandre III bridge, the athletes either diving off it or holding onto it depending on the race category. The current will be with the athletes from there to the first buoy, against them in a tough stretch back towards the ramp and transition.
Tactics are likely to be crucial here as the athletes look to take full advantage of the water speed on the way out and mitigate it as much as possible on the way back, likely by sticking to the far right of the course as we saw during the Olympic Games and cutting in towards the exit ramp at the latest possible moment.
Athletes will then climb the ramp, gather themselves and assess their rivals’ positioning, before hitting the first transition on the south side of the river, with only T2 situated on top of the Pont Alexandre III.
The Bike
Once onto or into the bikes and handcycles, there’s a 1.5km junction up the ramp and onto the main bike course. Each of the five main laps is 3.7km long, heading back over the Alexandre III bridge and past the grandstands, down the Champs-Elysees then a dead turn back towards Avenue Montaigne and over Pont des Invalides back to the southern side of the Seine before a right along the Quai d’Orsay and then another 180 back towards the grandstands.
The combination of asphalt and cobbles will heighten the challenge and the need for full concentration across the entire 20km, the forecast for dry weather helping make for good biking conditions.
The Run
The fifth lap completed, the athletes hit transition this time on the Alexandre III, where the bikes must be racked and then it is shoes on or into the racing wheelchairs for the 5km run to Paralympic glory.
This time, the athletes will head right straight out of transition to begin an 1100m junction section that takes them back over the river via the Pont de la Concorde and joins the main run course down St Germain Boulevard and back along Quai d’Orsay before heading back to the grandstands at the end of the third and final lap to the finish line.
