Five British paratriathletes medalled at the Europe Triathlon Para Championships in Olsztyn last year, with three out to defend their titles in Madrid on Saturday 3 June.
Claire Cashmore (PTS5) and Dave Ellis (PTVI guided by Luke Pollard) will seek to retain their status as European Champions, and Michael Salisbury (PTS5) meanwhile will be seeking to convert silver to gold.
Cashmore and the Ellis-Pollard partnership are no stranger to success and will be racing internationally for the first time this year when they take to the course on Saturday morning.
The paratriathlon racing will operate over a split schedule on Saturday, with classes PTS2-5 and PTVI starting from 08:00 local time (07:00 BST) and being set off at regular intervals. The PTWC athletes will take to the course at 16:15 in Madrid (15:15 BST) giving the organisers time to make adjustments to the course.
Last year saw Finley Jakes (PTS4) claim his first World Triathlon Para Series podium in Montreal. At the Europe Triathlon Para Championships in Olsztyn, Jakes finished fourth and will be hoping to take a place on the podium this time around where he will find himself up against world number one and Paralympic Champion from Tokyo, Alexis Hanquinquant of France.
Mel Nicholls (PTWC) will be seeking to continue her rapid journey in the sport in Madrid. Having only raced in paratriathlon for the first time in May last year, she finished fifth at the World Championships in November.
Nicholls was interviewed by Paralympian Stef Reid in the build up to this weekend, and you can watch the interview where Mel discusses her strokes, mindset and discovery of paratriathlon on the British Triathlon YouTube channel and below.
Josh Landmann will also be racing in the afternoon as he competes in the men’ PTWC race. Landmann competed in the first World Triathlon Para Series race of the year in Devonport in March, finishing fourth, and crossed the line sixth last year in Olsztyn.
Louis Rolfe (PTS2) made his international triathlon debut in 2022, finishing second at Europe Triathlon Para Cup Bari in September.
Rolfe is a Paralympic gold and bronze medallist and holds multiple world titles from para-cycling. His journey to paratriathlon started in 2022 and has raced across the British Paratri Super Series, including at Volvo 2022 World Triathlon Para Series Swansea.
Making a return to international racing, Hannah Moore will compete in the women’s PTS4 race having also recently raced on the British Paratri Super Series in Llanelli. Oscar Kelly (PTVI) will race with guide Jamie Price this weekend, with the pair looking to put memories of World Triathlon Para Series Yokohama behind them where they finished with a DNF. Kelly finished sixth in 2022 in Olsztyn.
Find out more about the Europe Triathlon Para Championships, which will be available to watch on TriathlonLive.tv on the button below. The weekend will also include elite triathlon and Age-Group sprint and standard distance triathlon.
Europe Triathlon Para Championships
