Paralympic athlete Lauren Steadman led the way for the Brits in another busy weekend of racing across standard and long-distance races.
The British trio of Steadman, Henry Urand and Michael Taylor were in fine form at the World Triathlon Para Cup Besancon as they took home two medals between them. The returning Steadman and eventual winner Grace Norman set the pace early on breaking away from the rest of the field, with no one finishing within six minutes of the pair. On the run Steadman dropped off from the American and finished on the second step of the podium in the PTS5 women’s race. In the PTS4 men’s race Taylor finished third with a strong performance that saw him leading the race out of the water, while in the PTS3 category Urand finished in sixth place.
In the Europe Triathlon Cup Kitzbuhel Henry Leleu finished just off the podium in fourth place. The Brit kept pace with the top three throughout and was just 16 seconds behind winner Samuele Angelini. Further back fellow Brit Matthew Howard finished 26th amongst a group of six athletes who crossed the line within 10 seconds of each other.
In long distance racing four Brits took on the 2023 Challenge Gdansk. In the women’s race Megan McDonald led the way finishing in fifth, just one place ahead of Rebecca Anderbury. Rosie Weston then crossed the line a bit further back in eighth place. In the men’s race Will Draper finished in 03:55:41 to cross the line in ninth place.
At IRONMAN Austria Simone Mitchell finished fifth with a time of 09:21:09. The Brit was fifth out of the water and gained a place in T1 but had dropped to seventh at the end of the bike. She then put in the fastest run time of anyone and was the only athlete to complete it in under three hours as she fought her way back to fifth place.
Images by Puur Film and French Triathlon Federation.
