Joe Townsend and Jade Jones won highly impressive gold medals as the wheelchair event (PTWC) helped launch paratriathlon into the Commonwealth Games for the first time ever.
2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games RESULTS:
PTWC Men
| 1. | Joseph Townsend H2 | ENG | 01:02:39 |
| 2. | Nic Beveridge H1 | AUS | 01:03:28 |
| 3. | Bill Chaffey H2 | AUS | 01:04:13 |
| 4. | Mark Conway H1 | ENG | 01:06:17 |
PTWC Women
| 1. | Jade Jones H2 | EMG | 01:11:07 |
| 2. | Emily Tapp H1 | AUS | 01:12:56 |
| 3. | Lauren Parker H1 | AUS | 01:13:48 |
| 4. | Karen Darke H1 | SCO | 01:16:37 |
| 5. | Lizzie Tench H2 | ENG | 01:20:04 |
For full results, please visit here
Townsend, a former Royal Marine and 2016 Rio Paralympian is going from strength to strength. He won his first ITU world championship medal in September and today won gold with a complete performance on the Gold Coast.
Coming from behind after the swim, Townsend gradually moved through the field and delivered a gold medal for Team England.
He said: “It was my perfect race. What I planned to do in my head happened on race day, I kept the gap smaller than I ever have done on the swim.”
He added: “The swim is my weakest discipline and I know I'm one of the strongest hand cyclists and pushers in the field, so coming out of T2 in the lead, I knew the race was mine. I just had to keep my cool. This is absolutely the highlight of my career."
England’s Mark Conway made his major championship debut and finished fourth and David Kerr of Northern Ireland was sixth.
Jade Jones, who is set to also compete for Team England in athletics, won gold despite only having completed her first triathlon a year ago. It was a dominant performance for the 22-year-old from Middleborough.
Jones was the fastest across all three disciplines but had to catch athletes ahead of her after the swim due to the factoring which gives an advantage to athletes with greater impairment.
She said: “I was always chasing which is tough mentally, but to push through was great. I swam really well, I have been working on my swimming for the past six months. I have only been doing paratriathlon for 18 months, and although I have made a lot of improvements, I still have a long way to go.”
She added: “I caught Lauren Parker on the second run lap, but anything can happen so I didn't celebrate until I crossed the finish line. I’m now going to go home to recover and prepare for the marathon."
Karen Darke, a Paralympic cycling champion, was fourth for Scotland and England’s Lizzie Tench was fifth.
