UPDATED: The Rio 2016 Paratriathlon events get under way tomorrow on Copacabana Beach. Eleven British athletes and two guides will represent ParalympicsGB as the sport makes its Paralympic debut.
The Paratriathlon involves a 750m swim from a deep-water start, followed by a flat, fast and exciting 20km bike section. The 5km run also takes place along the Copacabana, finishing with the Sugar Loaf Mountain as the stunning backdrop. Great Britain has multiple medal opportunities as the sport makes its debut on the biggest stage in disability sport.
Saturday sees the men’s events from 2pm UK time followed by the women’s events at the same time on Sunday. A more detailed schedule is available HERE.
How to watch
Channel 4 will have reporters and a camera live at the event, so their continuous broadcast will feature reports from the Paratriathlon. BBC 5Live will also have radio presenters at the event. The event infrastructure doesn't include the ability to provide live pictures from around the course, so the Channel 4 coverage will be limited because of this.
There is a highlights package available via Paralympics.org, but this is not available in the UK. We assume that Channel 4 will show these highlights via their website, but have not had confirmation of when that will be available – we will update this website and post the times via our social media as soon as we know.
There will be a live timing feed available and Twitter commentary via Triathlon Live and ParalympicsGB – the @triathlonlive twitter feed will be the most active commentary feed. British Triathlon has a photographer in Rio and will be able to post photographs during the events subject to wifi signals allowing us to do this.
Get involved in Paratriathlon
British Triathlon will be running a number of GO TRI Novice Training Days specifically for people with a disability across the country starting in October 2016. These will take place in accessible venues with equipment available. For more information visit: https://www.britishtriathlon.org/get-involved/paratriathlon.
Good luck!
Our Paratriathletes have followed an amazing journey since the sport was voted into the Paralympics in December 2010. We hope that the hard work and dedication of athletes and support staff will pay off this weekend.
