It seemed at all points last year that the sun was shining on Susana Rodriguez. Paralympic gold, European gold, world gold, each one after the next. Some athletes spend entire careers waiting for such moments in the sun but there would be no denying the woman that has been a dominant force in the PTVI class.
On the eve of her first race of the new season, World Triathlon caught up with the Para triathlon star to talk 2024, a different outlook on 2025 and how she has seen the sport grow.
A fabulous year
“2024 was, if we look at the results, a perfect year,” she said. “Winning gold at the Paralympics, Euros and Worlds was stunning, plus the bronze in the team relay was a special race as it was with friends. But the most important part of it is that I really enjoyed every moment.”
At the same time, for all the photo evidence of the multiple trips to the top of the podium, it was not entirely smooth sailing for Rodriguez. “We had a big bike accident at the World Para Cup in Vigo, in my home city, and we had to push really hard in the final stretch to Paris, especially because it was mentally difficult to get back to the tandem.”
In the end, Rodriguez was able to rise to the challenge and defended the Paralympic crown she won in Tokyo. After Paris, with two Paralympic golds and five world titles in the bank, it would have been fair for her to slow down and luxuriate in her success. That, however, was not her style.
“I think there are two things that keep me motivated: first of all I enjoy daily training with my guides because we push hard and it is spending time with great people. The second is that triathlon is a complex sport and I always keep finding things in which I can progress. I came from Paris with ‘homework’ for the upcoming season!”
Rebooting for 2025
Tomorrow marks the season opener of the World Para Series and a chance to grade her homework. “Sara (Perez Sala) and I want to improve our technical bike skills and I am working on my concentration capacity because as a blind athlete you cannot focus on what you see in front so I need to use other tools.”
On the one hand Rodriguez’s continued efforts to improve bear the hallmark of an athlete always striving to hit new highs. On the other hand, they are also indicative of a PTVI class that is growing in depth. While Rodriguez has been the headline act of the field for years, she will have her challengers this year, such as 2023 world champion Francesca Tarantello, Anja Renner and Leticia Freitas.
When it comes to targeting another moment in the sun, though, she could hardly have made a better choice than Devonport, the host of the Series opener. “I always liked Australia and the way people live and love the sport here. I always start the year in Yokohama but this time, as a very experienced athlete, I wanted to do something different: new place, new course, new moment of the season.”
Another new element facing Rodriguez is that she will be back to work part-time, returning to the medical career she put on hold to claim gold at the Tokyo Paralympics. A big factor behind this decision was balancing the demands of the sport with the rest of her life. “I want to divide the effort of racing throughout the year more and try to keep healthy physically and mentally, which I was unable to do after Tokyo with sports burnout.”
Should things go to plan, expect her to be back in Australia at the end of the season for the World Para Championships in Wollongong where another golden moment may beckon.
The bigger picture
Right now, Rodriguez has six world titles in Para triathlon, putting her only one short of illustrious contemporaries like Jetze Plat and Alexis Hanquinquant. Her maiden crown came back in 2012, in Auckland, signposting what has been a lengthy career. As such, Rodriguez is well-placed to give her verdict on how the sport has grown.
“Since I started, the evolution of the sport has been enormous and lovely to see. The level of performance has really gone higher, especially in some categories, and I am happy and proud to have lived all this and been able to progress and grow with the different generations of rivals I raced against. They have made me a better athlete.”
“We have more races in great venues but we cannot relax. I would love to keep contributing to the evolution of Para triathlon in the future to make our sport stronger.”
She identified continued work on the Para triathlon relay rules “to create an incredible event”, finding a system that encourages Para triathletes to race more season-round, and focusing on development to bring new countries into the sport as points to target. As she said, there’s still much to do, but given the strides the sport has already made, taking the next step should only be a matter of time.
You can stay in the loop with all the latest from Devonport across all World Triathlon channels. The racing starts on Friday 14th March at 12:30 AEDT (03:30 CET) and will be shown live on TriathlonLive.
