With the opening ceremony to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games having taken place and the Games officially beginning, here’s all you need to know about paratriathlon in Tokyo.
Paratriathlon is split into different classifications depending on the athlete’s impairment, with four male and four female classifications being competed over in Tokyo. ParalympicsGB will be represented in six of the eight races, with eight athletes competing over two days of racing.
Friday 27 August 10:30pm BST
Day one of paratriathlon racing will see British athletes compete in all four races that take place. The first race will see Michael Taylor compete in the male PTS4 classification at 06:30am local time (10:30pm BST).
Taylor heads to Tokyo having only picked up the sport after Rio as part of a British Triathlon talent identification programme. So far in 2021 he’s finished second twice at World Triathlon Para Series races in Yokohama and Leeds and taken victories in a Para Cup race in Spain and at the British Paratriathlon Championships.
Second up is Fran Brown who will be racing in the female PTS2 event. Brown and her fellow competitors will set off a minute after Taylor, giving his race time to stay ahead whilst out on the course.
Brown, like Taylor, will be making her Paralympic debut in Tokyo, however the 36-year-old has plenty of experience at the top level and became world champion in 2019.
At 08:30am (00:30 Saturday BST) and 08:31am (00:31 Saturday BST) respectively, the male and female PTVI races start, with Dave Ellis and his guide Luke Pollard, and Alison Peasgood and Melissa Reid along with their guides Nikki Bartlett and Hazel Macleod all competing.
Ellis will be making his Paralympic paratriathlon debut having previously competed in Beijing in para-swimming, whilst, for Pollard, this will be his first taste of a Paralympic Games.
Peasgood and Reid are both medallists from Rio, coming home with silver and bronze respectively. Macleod guided Peasgood five years ago, so her pairing with Reid means that both athlete and guide are previous medallists. Bartlett will be making her debut, however, has plenty of experience as a guide for Alison and an IRONMAN athlete on her own.
Saturday 28 August 10:30pm BST
Day two kicks off with male and female PTWC races, neither of which will feature British athletes, so the ParalympicsGB involvement is saved until early Sunday morning UK time.
At 08:30am (00:30 Sunday BST), George Peasgood will set off in the male PTS5 competition with Lauren Steadman and Claire Cashmore starting their swim, bike, run a minute later.
All three athletes have Paralympic experience, with Peasgood and Steadman both previously competing in Rio when the sport made its first Paralympic appearance. Steadman won silver in Brazil and has found her home on the podium, finishing there more often then not across her paratriathlon career.
Cashmore is a multi-Paralympic medallist as a para-swimmer. She won gold and silver in Rio before making the switch to swim, bike, run and has found her feet quickly in the sport, bringing home medals from around the world including from the 2019 World Championships.
The venue and how to watch
Similarly to the triathlon at the Olympic Games, Odaiba Marine Park is the main hub for the paratriathlon action at the Paralympics in Tokyo. All classifications will compete across the same course over a single-lap 750m swim, four-lap 20km bike and four-lap 5km run.
Having completed their swim, the athletes will set off onto their bike leg which will see them head out of transition and onto the bike course. After completing four identical laps that take the competitors into nearby Ariake and back, the final discipline will then keep the action close to the Marine Park before culminating in the waterside finish.
The action from both nights will be broadcast on Channel 4 following the Last Leg and in full online, providing fans in the UK with the opportunity to watch the races unfold.
For more information about paratriathlon at the Paralympic Games, visit our Games Hub through the button below.
