The USA’s Chris Hammer produced Paralympic magic in Paris on Monday afternoon, the 38-year-old earning a career-first PTS5 gold medal after a monumental closing-stages battle with Brazil’s Ronan Cordeiro and defending champion Martin Schulz of Germany.
Having missed out on the podium by just one place in both Rio and Tokyo, it was to be third time a charm for Hammer, who kept his cool and stayed patient despite exiting the water in 8th place and 90 seconds off the front. Picking his way towards the front over the 20km bike, the American put himself within 20 seconds of the leader Schulz, then detonated a remarkable first lap of three on the run, hitting the front and holding off Cordeiro all the way to the line.
“I don’t know if I truly believed it could be a reality until a few months ago. Now it’s reality,” said a thrilled Hammer. “The last few months were spent up at (high) altitude in Park City, Utah. I’ve never done a dedicated altitude block like that before. I didn’t know if it would work. I guess it did. I never did a work-out that gave me confidence, but my coach kept saying, ‘This will work, once we come down’. And it did.”
“If it wasn’t for those fourth-place finishes, I probably wouldn’t have been as motivated to race this time around. Fourth is painful, and it’s not. It keeps you in the sport. It was all part of the journey that led me here. I will look back on those fourth places fondly now.”
Portugal’s Filipe Marques was a dart in the water for the 750m swim, carving through the current to open up an early 15 second lead over nearest rival Cordeiro in second. Jack Howell (AUS) and Bence Mocsari (HUN) exited right behind the Brazilian, and the pace was on from the opening kilometres of the bike to try and keep the advantage over Hammer as large and as long as possible.
Stefan Daniel and Martin Schulz were also giving chase just under a minute off Marques onto the bike, and they soon began to make headway, Daniel hitting the lead at the halfway mark before an unfortunate crash halted the charge of Canada’s former World Champion.
At that point, just 15 seconds separated the top five, Hammer +40s behind Howell, then Schulz seized his opportunity to take to the front over the last of the five laps from Mocsari who recovered from a crash to maintain his challenge. Hammer was suddenly also well set just 20 seconds back, and out onto the run, was a man on a mission.
1km in, Hammer was alongside Cordeiro and Schulz, then the German tired just as Hammer hit the turbo once again. This time there was no response from the Brazilian, and Hammer was able to hit the blue carpet alone and soak up the moment he had waited for. It was a massive silver too for Cordeiro as he held off Schulz, the German settling for bronze ahead of Marques in fourth and Mocsari in fifth.
QUOTES:
Ronan Cordeiro (silver)
“It was incredible out there. Everything went well for me. It was a tough and aggressive course and I knew there was a chance of missing out on the podium because of that. The only way to make it happen, was to go with all I had. I really had to push, push, push. That really is what I did. Becoming the first triathlete of Brazil to win a medal at the Paralympics, is amazing. It means a lot to me. Especially because this sport is not so big in Brazil. To break that barrier and to win a medal is important. It shows that it is possible. I think it will open doors and it will show others that they can dream of winning a medal. This is only the beginning for Brazilian triathlon.”
Martin Schulz (bronze)
“The race was tough today. There were a lot of great athletes competing. It was hard, so maybe that’s the reason why I’m still happy with a bronze. It’s a medal at least, but obviously I wish I had won my third gold here.
“There was a lot of pressure going into these Games as the two-time champion. Everyone was talking about me winning that third gold. Maybe it was a bit too much. Maybe it got me. I was the flag bearer for Germany and that cost some stress and pressure, too. Everyone has been watching me. It’s difficult. I felt the pressure. It’s been tough. Of course I really wanted to win again, but it just didn’t happen today.”
For the full men’s PTS5 results, click here.
