Find out all that went down at the World Para Championships in Pontevedra
As the sport of Para triathlon becomes ever deeper, the margins at the top have become increasingly fine. Nothing exemplified that as well as today’s World Para Championships, with four of the six men’s events decided by less than 20 seconds. Across superlative performances from titans of the discipline and giant upsets, the dozen races in Pontevedra had a bit of everything. Read on for a full breakdown of the action.
PTVI
We launched the day with the PTVI class and here defending world champion Susana Rodriguez (ESP) came out on top once again. A field-leading swim split (11:27 for 750m) handed her the early initiative and with T100 star Sara Perez Sala (ESP) guiding her on the bike she consolidated her lead in the second discipline. An 18:41 5km run split by 2023 world champion Francesca Tarantello (ITA) ate into Rodriguez’s lead, but the Spaniard had done more than enough to seal the deal, winning by 1:53. Germany’s Anja Renner overhauled Brazil’s Leticia Freitas on the run to take home the bronze medal.
In the men’s race, we were treated to the renewal of a budding rivalry. Dave Ellis (GBR) arrived as the reigning champion and the dominant force in the class. In Lazar Filipovic (SRB), though, he was up against an athlete that had handed him a rare defeat at the Europe Championships earlier in the year. Payback was on the menu.
However, when Filipovic shot into the lead in the water (11:10) Ellis found himself on the back foot. The Brit clawed back time on the bike but it all came down to the run. Over an agonising 5km, Filipovic fought with all he could, but Ellis’ experience told as he got by to win by 19 seconds. Antoine Perel (FRA) finished 3rd after starting the run with the two leaders and was one of four men to finish within a minute of the race winner.
PTWC
Lauren Parker (AUS) triumphed in a clash of the Paralympic champions in the PTWC class, defeating Kendall Gretsch (USA) by 65 seconds. For much of the race, however, Gretsch had her hands full with teammate Emelia Perry (USA) and only managed to move up into 2nd place late on. Parker’s 11:41 swim split put her in control from the start; as a H1 athlete, she and Perry started 3:38 before Gretsch, a H2-classified athlete. Gretsch had the top split in every discipline thereafter, but Parker had everything in hand to defend her title. Gretsch’s efforts were not in vain, though, as she took the silver over Perry by a mere 7 seconds.
Another title defence came in the PTWC men’s race as Thomas Fruehwirth (AUT) powered to gold by 55 seconds. Fruehwirth had been the second man out of the water behind Giuseppe Romele (ITA) before moving to the front. Then Joseph Fritsch (FRA) came barrelling down the course like a runaway train to lead into T2, yet Fruehwirth did not panic and calmly dispatched his rival on the run. Florian Brungraber (AUT) used a field-best run split to launch himself up into 2nd place as Fritsch settled for bronze.
PTS2
As with Ellis in the PTVI event, payback was sweet in the women’s PTS2 race. Last year, Hailey Danz (USA) suffered defeat at the hands of Anu Francis (AUS) as the Australian was roared to gold by a thrilled home crowd in Wollongong. For an athlete with a career as storied as Danz, it was never likely she would take her loss without a riposte this year. The American went early and the American went hard, blowing her core rivals (Francis included) away in the water (12:02).
A 40:33 20km bike split, the best of the race, extended Danz’s lead and by T2 she was to all intents and purposes home and dry. Francis battled gamely to make it a race, but she did not make a dent in Danz’s lead as she settled for silver. Japan’s Asumi Yasuda was the best runner of the field (22:12) which was enough to guarantee her the bronze medal.
Danz’s fellow Paris Paralympic champion, Jules Ribstein (FRA), won the men’s event in a very different manner. Wim De Paepe (BEL), the 2024 world champion, led out of the water (10:55), putting 10 seconds into Ribstein. While the Frenchman would close the gap slightly in T1, De Paepe then struck again with a field-best bike split (37:00). As a result, by T2 Ribstein was staring down the barrel of a 31 second deficit.
Complicating matters, he had Mohamed Lahna (USA) hot on his heels. After his race across America earlier this year, Lahna was in inspired form and clearly wished to sign off 2026 in dazzling fashion. Yet Ribstein found a gear beyond his rivals. As De Paepe faltered to 3rd, the race for gold became one between the Frenchman and the American, with Ribstein prevailing by 14 seconds.
PTS3
One of the biggest upsets of the day came in the women’s PTS3 class as defending world champion Elise Marc (FRA) was stunned by Italy’s Serena Banzato. Americas champion Kenia Yesenia Villalobos Vargas (MEX) left both to eat her bubbles in the water and emerged over 90 seconds ahead of Marc. It was on the bike, though, that Banzato made her move and with a terrific display of cycling strength she powered into the lead. The onus was now on Marc to respond, but Banzato kept going, adding the fastest run of the day to seal a maiden world title. Kassandre Case (USA) then out-ran Villalobos to claim the bronze medal.
Meanwhile, the PTS3 category saw the only true blow-out victory on the men’s side as Henry Urand (GBR) put his rivals to the sword. Paralympic champion Daniel Molina (ESP) had led out of the water (10:51 and over 90 seconds up on Urand) to let the home fans believe. Briefly. Then Urand simply squashed the field on the bike. He and Molina would clock almost identical run splits (Molina was 1 second quicker in 18:32) but the gold was settled; Urand had won his third straight world title, this time by 1:54.
The race still had more to give, though, as Stylianos Malakopoulos (GRE) whizzed through the 5km in 17:11 to pass three rivals and pip Valentin Hanzer (GER) to the bronze medal by 3 seconds.
PTS4
Camille Seneclauze (FRA) was the star of the PTS4 class, overturning a swim deficit of 98 seconds to compatriot Zoé Reveillon (FRA) to win by 2:30. With the best T1, bike and T2 splits of the field, Seneclauze developed an insurmountable lead during the heart of the race and could afford to enjoy the final stages of the run on her way to a second straight world title. Reveillon held on for the silver medal while Kelly Elmlinger (USA) had the best run of the race (21:27) to lock down the bronze medal.
A pair of gargantuan efforts from Nils Riudavets Victory (ESP) and Pierre-Antoine Baele (FRA) were nearly enough to break Alexis Hanquinquant’s (FRA) eight championship winning streak in the PTS4 class, but it was not to be. Hanquinquant got off to a good start in the water, exiting first in 9:37. Neither Riudavets nor Baele made up time on the bike either, seemingly setting them on a trajectory to contest the silver. But on the run, though, they almost made it happen.
Riudavets out-split Hanquinquant by 27 seconds (15:43 for the top split) while Baele was 19 seconds quicker than his teammate. It would not be enough as the defending champion won by 13 seconds, but this was the biggest crack in his supremacy of the class we have seen yet.
PTS5
In the women’s PTS5 race, we were treated to a game of snakes-and-ladders as athletes moved up and down places. One thing that was fairly constant, however, was Grace Norman’s (USA) spot at the front, something she would not relinquish once gained on the bike. Grace Brimelow (AUS) was the only woman quicker than Norman in the water. The Australian recorded a time of 10:36 to Norman’s 11:21. As Norman moved up, Brimelow shifted down with Lauren Steadman (GBR) passing her only to be herself overtaken by Erica Da Rosa Rodrigues (BRA).
Norman remained untroubled at the front and an 18:41 5km split laid any question over her victory to rest. In turn, De Rosa held off Steadman to secure the silver medal.
Finally, Chris Hammer (USA) used an inspired bike split to launch a come-from-behind victory as he defended the PTS5 world title he won last October. Initially, it appeared the Paralympic champion was down and out as Filipe Marques (POR) led the swim in 9:33 with Hammer 89 seconds down in tied-9th. But then the magic happened. A 30:25 20km bike split, a full 65 seconds faster than the next quickest man (Germany’s Martin Schulz), brought Hammer back into the game.
Marques still led going through T1, but challengers were lining up behind him from Schulz to Bence Mocsari (HUN) to Hammer. And with a 16:00 5km split (the best of the race), the American dealt his hammer-blow to win from Schulz by 16 seconds. Marques held on for 3rd place, a mere 4 seconds behind the German. As with the men’s PTVI race, four men ultimately crossed within a minute of Hammer suggesting that he will have to stay on his toes to remain on top.
