Steadman follows Euro gold with win in Strathclyde

Great Britain’s Lauren Steadman secured her second victory in as many weeks, with a top finish in the women’s PT4 division at the Strathclyde International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Para Triathlon Event (WPE) on Sunday (5 June).

Reigning world champion Steadman (1:09:55), who was coming off a victory at the European Championships in late May, topped an all-British podium in front of a home crowd. Teammates Kerry Large (1:16:28) and Ruth Wilson (1:19:58) took home the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

Other highlights from Sunday’s competition included:

PT4

The USA’s Chris Hammer (1:00:20) got his second win for the year in the men’s PT4 race thanks to a strong performance in the running segment, being three minutes faster than the 17-man PT4 field.

France’s Maxime Maurel (1:02:57) came in second, followed by Great Britain’s David Hill (1:03:14).

PT1

The Dutch duo of Jetze Plat (58:21) and Geert Schipper (1:04:51) had a one-two finish. Plat showed strong form coming off of his third European Championship title from Lisbon, Portugal. Great Britain’s Phil Hogg (1:10:50) finished third, capturing his second podium finish of 2016.

Lizzie Tench and Fiona McCormack had a rematch from the European Championship, with 2016 regional champion Tench (1:29:21) dominating European bronze medallist McCormack (1:51:11).

PT2

France’s Geoffrey Wersey (1:15:00) took his first WPE victory of the season, finishing just over a minute ahead of Spain’s runner-up Lionel Morales (1:16:13). Italy’s Giovanni Sasso (1:19:01) came in third.

In the women’s category, the USA’s Sarah Reinersten (1:32:24) won her third WPE title of 2016, with previous victories from Penrith, Australia, and Aguilas, Spain. Sweden’s Shahrzad Kiavash (1:33:49) took the silver.

PT3

After finishing third in the Europeans last week, Austrian and world No. 1 Oliver Dreier (1:08:15) responded with gold in Strathclyde. Japan’s Hideki Uda (1:10:42) came in second, and Ireland’s Tojo Lazzari (1:16:55) rounded off the podium.

Germany’s European champion Nora Hansel was the lone racer in the women’s PT3 race, clocking 1:27:48.

PT5

Spain’s Jose Luis Garcia Serrano won the men’s race in 1:08:48. This was Serrano’s first WPE win of the 2016 season after two previous second-place finishes from Buffalo City, South Africa, and Penrith.

Four minutes separated the first and third-place finishers in the women’s race. Despite slower times in the swimming and running segments, Ireland’s Catherine Walsh (1:19:05) won the gold thanks to her biking time. She bested Canada’s Christine Robbins (1:20:25) and Japan’s Astute Yamada (1:23:35).

Complete results from the Strathclyde ITU World Para Triathlon Event are available here.

The race in Strathclyde was the penultimate event of the WPE series, with the final competition taking place on 19 June Besancon, France. The deadline for Para triathletes to garner qualification points for Rio 2016 is 30 June.