Great Britain’s Paratriathletes won four medals, two of which were gold, at the ITU World Paratriathlon Event in Detroit, USA on Sunday (16 August). The small team of just five athletes featured Ryan Taylor and Clare Cunningham winning gold.

Just two weeks on from the Rio Test Event, a competitive field gathered in Detroit for one of the last chances to score ranking points and race at the highest level before the ITU World Championships next month.

Britain’s Ryan Taylor and Clare Cunningham won gold, and George Peasgood and Andy Lewis took silver. Taylor, 22, is a former England U21 cerebral palsy football player and raced to gold in the PT2 category ahead of British teammate, Lewis.

Clare Cunningham, George Peasgood and Stefan Hoggan all raced in the PT4 category, with Cunningham coming out on top in the women’s race ahead of USA’s Grace Norman, who was second at the Rio Test Event.

Peasgood, who is just 19 years old, continued his good form to win silver and Hoggan was happy with his best result to date in sixth.

The PT2 and PT4 categories will be included in the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games next September when Paratriathlon makes it’s debut, and are hence becoming much more competitive on a national and global level. The sport has never featured in the Paralympic Games before and the events on Copacabana Beach are expected to attract large crowds.

Results: Detroit ITU World Paratriathlon Event: 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run

Men’s PT2
1. Ryan Taylor, GBR, 1:05:32
2. Andrew Lewis, GBR, 1:06:51
3. Lionel Morales, ESP, 1:07:45

Men’s PT4
1. Chris Hammer, USA, 56:58
2. George Peasgood, GBR, 58:10
3. José Abraham Estrada Sierra, MEX, 58:42
6. Stefan Hoggan, GBR, 1:02:01

Women’s PT4
1. Clare Cunningham, GBR, 1:06:07
2. Grace Norman, USA, 1:07:15
3. Kate Doughty, AUS, 1:08:59