Paralympic PTS2 racing sees Seely vs Danz vs Stockwell round three and men's return to the schedule

by doug.gray@triathlon.org on 26 Aug, 2024 05:00

For the world’s PTS2 athletes hoping to realise their Paralympic medal ambitions, there have been some significant hurdles on both sides of the gender fence in the two editions of Paralympic Triathlon to date.

On the women’s side, it has been the dominance of an exceptional trio of US athletes that’s has hamstrung wider efforts to podium. Allysa Seely, Hailey Danz and Melissa Stockwell have claimed five of the six medals between them in the category’s Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 outings, just Veronika Yoko Plebani able to halt their charge with bronze in Tokyo.

On the men’s side, the PTS2 athletes didn’t feature on the programme in Japan, leaving another American, Mohamed Lahna, as the only previous medallist from that historic Rio debut to make a Paris start line that is thick with hungry medal contenders.

The men and women will line up at 8:20am and 8:30am CEST respectively on Sunday 1 September. Course information can be found here, check local TV listings for details on where to watch.

Seely eyes momentous threepeat

50 seconds is all that has separated compatriots Allysa Seely and Hailey Danz in the past two editions, the former superior over the 5km run, the latter over the 20km bike.

But it was Melissa Stockwell who secured her qualification at the all-important US selection event of the 2024 Continental Championships, Danz in second, leaving Seely reliant on a Bipartite invitation to defend her titles. Back-to-back Series wins in Swansea and Montreal suggest the 35-year-old is back in the form that could earn a third win at the highest level. Consecutive silvers for Danz will keep her hunger for gold burning.

It was the Italian Plebani who scored a brilliant bronze in Tokyo, the pinnacle of her rise to form in 2021 after four years in the sport bringing her run up to the level of her rivals. Excellent on the bike and strong in the water, she will want to deploy the best of both to be in medal contention over that final 5km.

Making her Paralympic Triathlon debut and equally ready to podium will be Australia’s Anu Francis. Silver in Yokohama in May to go with her World Championship silver in 2023, the Paris Test Event winner has arguably the best bike in the PTS2 business and that could help carve out a critical advantage just as it did last year in the French capital.

Ribstein chasing home gold glory

The men’s PTS2 is just as difficult to predict, the start list thick with talent, not to mention world titles and Series wins. The fact that the past four World Championships have been claimed by French legend Jules Ribstein puts him firmly in the ‘favourite’ bracket, but doesn’t tell the full story.

An excellent swim-biker and one of the fastest runners on the block, there are plenty around the 37-year-old who will be heading into Paris just as confident, albeit not likely to be on the receiving end of the same levels of crowd encouragement through the streets of his capital city.

Among them Mohamed Lahna, who tops the Paralympic rankings thanks to World Championship silver last year and Series wins in June in Swansea and Montreal to take the in-form label. Conversely, Ribstein’s starts have been confined to two Para Cup wins since Pontevedra, while it was Netherlands’ Maurits Morsink who took the Test Event honours last summer over a duathlon format that he stamped his authority on over the opening 2.5km run.

Settling for silver behind Lahna in Swansea after unning out of course, Morsink will look to detonate his run power on the Paris streets, while another American, Mark Barr, has made a splash on his return to the sport in 2023 and will be a threat just as he was in Rio 2016, finishing just 16 seconds off the medal places.

For the full start lists, click here.

Article tags mohamed lahna melissa stockwell paralympic games hailey danz paris 2024 allyesa seely jules robstein

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Related Event: Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

24 - 05 Sep, 2021 • event page • all results

Results: PTWC Men
1.	Jetze Plat H2	NED	00:57:51
2.	Florian Brungraber H2	AUT	00:59:55
3.	Giovanni Achenza H1	ITA	01:02:05
4.	Geert Schipper H2	NED	01:03:01
5.	Ahmed Andaloussi H1	FRA	01:04:45

Results: PTS4 Men
1.	Alexis Hanquinquant	FRA	00:59:58
2.	Hideki Uda	JPN	01:03:45
3.	Alejandro Sánchez Palomero	ESP	01:04:24
4.	Jiachao Wang	CHN	01:04:54
5.	Antonio Franko	CRO	01:05:49

Results: PTS5 Men
1.	Martin Schulz	GER	00:58:10
2.	George Peasgood	GBR	00:58:55
3.	Stefan Daniel	CAN	00:59:22
4.	Chris Hammer	USA	00:59:28
5.	Ronan Cordeiro	BRA	01:01:22

Results: PTVI Men
1.	Brad Snyder B1	USA	01:01:16
2.	Héctor Catalá Laparra B2	ESP	01:02:11
3.	Satoru Yoneoka B1	JPN	01:02:20
4.	Thibaut Rigaudeau B2	FRA	01:02:48
5.	Kyle Coon B1	USA	01:03:00

Results: PTWC Women
1.	Kendall Gretsch H2	USA	01:06:25
2.	Lauren Parker H1	AUS	01:06:26
3.	Eva María Moral Pedrero H1	ESP	01:14:59
4.	Jessica Ferreira H1	BRA	01:16:23
5.	Brenda Osnaya Alvarez H1	MEX	01:16:32

Results: PTS2 Women
1.	Allysa Seely	USA	01:14:03
2.	Hailey Danz	USA	01:14:58
3.	Veronica Yoko Plebani	ITA	01:15:55
4.	Fran Brown	GBR	01:19:42
5.	Melissa Stockwell	USA	01:21:25

Results: PTVI Women
1.	Susana Rodriguez B1	ESP	01:07:15
2.	Anna Barbaro B1	ITA	01:11:11
3.	Annouck Curzillat B1	FRA	01:11:45
4.	Alison Peasgood B2	GBR	01:11:47
5.	Jessica Tuomela B1	CAN	01:12:53