Paratriathlon - what you need to know • World Triathlon

Paratriathlon - what you need to know

by Doug Gray on 01 Jan, 2020 11:39

The triathlon events at the Paralympic Games will see all competitors from the different sport classes compete over a course of 750m of swimming, 20km of cycling and 5km of running.

The medal events that the IPC confirmed for Paris 2024 are the Men’s PTWC, PTS2, PTS3, PTS4, PTS5 and PTVI, and Women’s PTWC, PTS2, PTS4, PTS5 and PTVI, three more medal events than in Tokyo 2020.

Regarding the athlete quota, there will be 54 men (18 more than in Tokyo), 50 women (14 more than in Tokyo) and further 18 invitational spots with no gender pre-determined yet, making a total of 120 Para triathletes competing at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, 40 more than were at Tokyo 2020.

So, ahead of Paris 2024, why not get to know a little more about the events, athletes and classification?

Sport Class Explanation
The Paralympic Para triathlon qualifying system was reformatted for Tokyo to allow for classing-up in certain cases to potentially allow more athletes the opportunity to qualify. The Tokyo 2020 medal events are as follows:

 PTWC in both genders: comprising both PTWC1 and PTWC2 sport classes;
 PTVI in both genders: comprising PTVI1, PTVI2 and PTVI3 sport classes;
 Men’s PTS2;
 Men’s PTS3;
 Men’s PTS4;
 Men’s PTS5
 Women’s PTS2;
 Women’s PTS4: also including athletes from the PTS3 sport class;
 Women’s PTS5.

The basic definitions for each of the classes in paratriathlon are as follows:

PTWC - Wheelchair users. Athletes must use a recumbent handcycle on the bike course and a racing wheelchair on the run segment.

PTS2 - Severe impairments. In both bike and run segments, amputee athletes may use approved prosthesis or other supportive devices.

PTS3 - Significant impairments. In both bike and run segments, amputee athletes may use approved prosthesis or other supportive devices.

PTS4 - Moderate impairments. In both bike and run segments, amputee athletes may use approved prosthesis or other supportive devices.

PTS5 - Mild impairments. In both bike and run segments, amputee athletes may use approved prosthesis or other supportive devices.

PTVI - Includes athletes who are partially sighted to totally blind. Must ride a tandem during the bike segment. One guide of the same nationality and gender is mandatory throughout the race.

Important rules
There are some particularities in Para triathlon, as athletes with varying levels of impairment need different support levels when exiting the water and before reaching the transition area.

There are swim-exit assistants who may assist the athletes upon swim exit depending on the swim cap colour, providing full lifting (red swim cap) or support assistance (yellow swim cap). There is a designated pre-transition area for athletes to collect their assistive devices (PTS2 to PTS4) or access their daily wheelchairs and be stripped by their handlers if needed (PTWC).

Athletes can use conventional bikes with approved adaptations (PTS2, PTS3 & PTS4 classes), a tandem (PTVI) or handcycle (PTWC).

The final section is a 5 km run, which athletes can complete in racing wheelchairs (PTWC), running with or without support of assistive devices (PTS2, PTS3 & PTS4) or alongside their guides (PTVI).

In the PTVI medal event, totally blind athletes (PTVI1) have an advantage through the interval start system. The men start 3’21’’ ahead of the partially sighted field and the women 3’48 ahead.

The PTWC medal event also uses the interval start system. The PTWC1 men start 3’08’’ ahead of the rest of the field and PTWC1 women start 4’04’’ ahead.

Article tags paratriathlon paralympic games tokyo 2020

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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