Fresh off the announcement that Para Triathlon will have twelve medal events at the next Paralympic Games, with all classifications being represented for the first time, came the first edition of the Taranto World Para Series. Numerous Paralympic and world medallists were out in full force as the road to Los Angeles became that bit more real. Elsewhere, there were continental triathlon titles up for grabs and a WTCS gold medallist strutting their stuff on their way to another win in Europe. Find out all that happened at the weekend in this week’s Monday Morning Mix.
World Para Series Taranto
Women’s winners
- PTVI: Susana Rodriguez (ESP)
- PTS5: Grace Norman (USA)
- PTS4: Ingrid De Oude (NED)
- PTS3: Elise Marc (FRA)
- PTS2: Yukako Hata (JPN)
- PTWC: Jessica Ferreira (BRA)
The rivalry that has come to define the women’s PTVI class continues. Susana Rodriguez got one over home favourite Francesca Tarantello (ITA) after a closely fought race that swung back and forth. Tarantello had the better swim and run splits but it was not enough to deny the Spanish star.
A notable win came in the women’s PTS3 class with Elise Marc taking yet another victory. PTS3 was the only non-Paralympic category in Paris, forcing Marc to compete as part of the PTS4 class. Following the announcement of the Los Angeles Paralympic medals, though, she will have the chance to add the Paralympic crown to her PTS3 world titles. Based on how she dominated in Taranto, she will certainly be the overwhelming favourite.
Men’s winners
- PTVI: Dave Ellis (GBR)
- PTS5: Jack Howell (AUS)
- PTS4: Alexis Hanquinquant (FRA)
- PTS3: Henry Urand (GBR)
- PTS2: Mohamed Lahna (USA)
- PTWC: Geert Schipper (NED)
The old and the new defined the men’s action in Taranto. Ellis, Hanquinquant, Lahna and Schipper are no strangers to the tops of World Para Series podiums and each were worthy victors at the weekend. The new generation of Para Triathlon stars are bubbling through nicely, though, as shown by the latest wins of Howell and Urand.
After taking silver in Torremolinos at the end of last year, Howell has gone from strength to strength. He won in Devonport before settling for silver in Yokohama by mere seconds. With his latest win, he is fast becoming the man to beat in the PTS5 event.
Urand was making his first international race since blowing the field away en route to the world title in Torremolinos. His cycling power was once again on full display as he overturned a deficit of over a minute from the swim by out-splitting his nearest rival on two wheels by over 2 minutes. View the full results from Taranto here.
Americas Championships Calima
At the latest Continental Championship of the season, the women’s battle for gold in Calima could largely be characterised as a clash between Brazil and Mexico. For the former, Vittoria Lopes and Djenfyer Arnold were at the forefront of a breakaway group that excelled over the 1.5km swim and 40km bike. The latter, however, had an answer to the test put before them through Maria Lopez Faraudo and Ana Maria Valentina Torres Gomez, who sliced through the gap to the leaders on the 10km run.
Lopes (19:49) and Arnold (20:00) were the best swimmers of the field and were joined by the Canadian trio of Emy Legault, Sophia Howell and Sidney Clement, as well as Raquel Solis Guerrero (CRC) on the bike. Through T2, the lead six held an advantage of close to 2 minutes. Lopez and Torres, though, were the fastest runners on the course and closing fast.
In the end, Arnold managed to secure the win as Lopez swept through everyone else to take silver. The Mexican athlete also had the consolation prize of the U23 crown. After being denied by Lopez late on, Legault managed to withstand Torres’ charge to take the bronze medal by 14 seconds.
Meanwhile, Diego Moya (CHI) prevailed in the men’s race thanks to a field-leading 10km run split of 34:02. Moya had been one of multiple athletes to take advantage of the rapid pace set in the water by Seth Rider (USA) and Aiden Longcroft-Harris (USA). The field, however, would later come back together.
One big beneficiary of the merging of the packs was Sullivan Middaugh (USA). The American had lost over 90 seconds to the swim leaders, but made it up on the bike. To complete his comeback, he then uncorked the best run split after Moya to secure the silver medal. Rounding out the podium was Osvaldo Darell Zuñiga Fierro (MEX). Zuñiga and Middaugh had finished in the opposite order at the recent La Paz Americas Cup and so this was a slice of revenge for the young American. Both also topped the U23 category in Calima.
Jimena Renata De La Peña Schott led an American sweep of the junior women’s podium. The 2023 World Junior Championships medallist was simply too good for the field as she won by 61 seconds. Ruth Pardy and Mia Wentzy took the silver and bronze medals, respectively. The men’s race was a different story as a photo finish had to separate Daniel Ubilla Sabada (CHI) and Thomas Francisco Chica Perez (ECU). After the paid logged identical 5km run splits of 17:32, it was Ubilla that was handed the win. There was a second medal for Chile as Sebastian Zurob was the next man home 7 seconds later to take 3rd place. View the full results from Calima here.
Americas Para Triathlon Championships Calima
Women’s winners
- PTVI: McClain Hermes (USA)
- PTS5: Erica Rosa De Rodrigues (BRA)
- PTS4: Kelly Elmlinger (USA)
- PTS3: Hannah Longmire (USA)
While Grace Norman was one of the few American Para Triathletes to head to Taranto, the US women dominated in Calima. Elmlinger, for instance, led an American sweep of the PTS4 podium ahead of Danielle Cummings and Emma Meyers.
Men’s winners
- PTVI: Heli de Jesus Casillas Alcalá (MEX)
- PTS5: Ruiter Antonio Goncalves Silva (BRA)
- PTS4: Jorge Luis Fonesca (BRA)
- PTS3: Lucas Jundt (USA)
- PTS2: Juan Esteban Patiño Giraldo (COL)
- PTWC: Aaron Kamnetz (USA)
In the men’s competition, as with the women’s, the PTS5 class was a source of Brazilian joy as Ruiter Antonio Goncalves Silva won, matching the feat of Erica Rosa De Rodrigues. He took the lead in the water and did not look back. By the end of the race, he was only 3 seconds away from winning by a full 8 minutes. Jorge Luis Fonesca then continued the run of Brazilian success with a gold of his own in the PTS3 class.
Naturally, there were further American golds. Among them, Aaron Kamnetz logged the biggest win of his career so far, taking down World Para Series gold medallist Howie Sanborn (USA) in the men’s PTWC class. Finally, Paris Paralympian Juan Esteban Patiño Giraldo was the sole home gold medallist. View the full results here.
Europe Cup Rzeszow
Tereza Zimovjanova (CZE) starred in the standard distance women’s race in Poland. Back in March she set a new 5km personal best and that running speed was on full show as she won by over a minute from Candice Denizot (FRA). Zimovjanova did not have the best day out at WTCS Alghero due to issues on the bike, but with her win in Rzeszow she has now got her 2025 season properly underway. Ellie White (GBR) was the third woman over the line to take bronze.
Pietro Giovannini (ITA) won the men’s race ahead of Solomon Okrafo-Smart (GBR) as the two men claimed their first senior international medals. Giovannini profited from riding with World Cup medallist Maciej Bruzdziak (POL), among others, at the front of the race. After also riding in a breakaway at the Samarkand World Cup recently, the breakaway is fast becoming Bruzdziak’s signature move. He set the home fans buzzing as the lead pack arrived in T2, although Giovannini soon broke clear. Okrafo-Smart then came charging though from the chase group with the best run of the day. No one, however, was going to deny Bruzdziak the bronze medal. View the full results here.
Around the world
The first race of the 2025 French Grand Prix took place last night in Albi. As usual, the event attracted stellar fields. After winning at WTCS Yokohama, Jeanne Lehair (FRA) was back on top with another win. She had broken clear with Mathilde Gautier (FRA), who repeated her own breakaway antics from the Samarkand World Cup, after the seemingly never-ending run from the swim exit to T1. World Junior champion Ambre Grasset (FRA) then came through to take an eye-catching silver medal ahead of Word Cup winner Sandra Dodet (FRA).
Fresh off his win at the Europe Cup in Olsztyn a fortnight ago, Oliver Conway (GBR) hit a new level with a victory in Albi. He impressed throughout before running clear over the final 5km run to take the win. Nathan Lessmann (FRA) was the next man home in 2nd place while Brandon Pye (GBR) completed the podium in 3rd place.