NEWS

Paratriathlon - Everything you need to know

By Erin Greene | 05 Sep, 2016
{article_title}

At the Paratriathlon events of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, all competitors from different sport classes must compete over a course of 750m of swimming, 20km of cycling and 5km of running for athletes with different types of impairment.

Ahead of the racing - on the morning’s of Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 August - why not get to know a little more about the events, athletes and classification…

Sport Class Explanation
The Olympic Paratriathlon qualifying system was reformatted for Tokyo to allow for classing-up in certain cases to allow more athletes the opportunity to qualify. The Tokyo 2020 classes are as follows:

 PTWC in both genders: comprising both classes PTWC1 and PTWC2;
 PTVI in both genders: comprising the classes PTVI1, PTVI2 and PTVI3;
 Men’s PTS4: also including athletes from classes PTS2 and PTS3;
 Men’s PTS5: including only athletes from class PTS5;
 Women’s PTS2: including only athletes from class PTS2;
 Women’s PTS5: also including athletes from classes PTS3 and PTS4.

 

The basic definitions for each of the classes in paratriathlon are as follows:

PTWC - Wheelchair users. Athletes must use a recumbent handcycle on the bike course and a racing wheelchair on the run segment.

PTS2 - Severe impairments. In both bike and run segments, amputee athletes may use approved prosthesis or other supportive devices.

PTS3 - Significant impairments. In both bike and run segments, amputee athletes may use approved prosthesis or other supportive devices.

PTS4 - Moderate impairments. In both bike and run segments, amputee athletes may use approved prosthesis or other supportive devices.

PTS5 - Mild impairments. In both bike and run segments, amputee athletes may use approved prosthesis or other supportive devices.

PTVI - Includes athletes who are partially sighted to totally blind. One guide is mandatory throughout the race. Must ride a tandem during the bike segment. A guide from the same nationality and gender is mandatory throughout the race.


Important rules
There are some particularities in paratriathlon, as athletes with varying levels of impairment need different support levels when exiting the water and before reaching the transition area.

There are swim-exit handlers who may assist the athletes upon swim exit depending on the swim cap colour, providing full lifting (red swim cap) or support assistance (yellow swim cap). There is a designated pre-transition area for athletes to collect their assistive devices (PTS2 to PTS4) or access their daily wheelchairs and be stripped by their handlers if needed (PTWC).

Athletes can use conventional bikes with approved adaptations (PTS2, PTS3 & PTS4 classes), a tandem (PTVI) or handcycle (PTWC).

The final section is a 5 km run, which athletes can complete in racing wheelchairs (PTWC), running with or without support of assistive devices (PTS2, PTS3 & PTS4) or alongside their guides (PTVI).

In the PTVI class, totally blind athletes (B1) have an advantage through a staggered start system. B1 athletes start 3’48’’ ahead of the rest of the field in PTVI. Visually impaired athletes compete with their guides, who must be with them throughout the entire race and be from the same nation and gender.

 

Related Event: Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games
24 - Sep, 2021 • event pageall results
Results: PTWC Men
1. Jetze Plat H2 NED 00:57:51
2. Florian Brungraber H2 AUT 00:59:55
3. Giovanni Achenza H1 ITA 01:02:05
4. Geert Schipper H2 NED 01:03:01
5. Ahmed Andaloussi H1 FRA 01:04:45
6. Jumpei Kimura H1 JPN 01:04:50
7. Nic Beveridge H1 AUS 01:04:50
8. Fathi Zwoukhi H1 TUN 01:05:44
9. Pier Alberto Buccoliero H2 ITA 01:09:16
10. Alexandre Paviza H1 FRA 01:10:54
Results: PTS4 Men
1. Alexis Hanquinquant FRA 00:59:58
2. Hideki Uda JPN 01:03:45
3. Alejandro Sánchez Palomero ESP 01:04:24
4. Jiachao Wang CHN 01:04:54
5. Antonio Franko CRO 01:05:49
6. Eric McElvenny USA 01:06:28
7. Jorge Luis Fonseca BRA 01:07:57
8. Michael Taylor GBR 01:08:11
9. Jamie Brown USA 01:09:12
10. Mikhail Kolmakov RPC 01:10:19
Results: PTS5 Men
1. Martin Schulz GER 00:58:10
2. George Peasgood GBR 00:58:55
3. Stefan Daniel CAN 00:59:22
4. Chris Hammer USA 00:59:28
5. Ronan Cordeiro BRA 01:01:22
6. Carlos Rafael Viana BRA 01:02:26
7. David Bryant AUS 01:02:30
8. Jairo Ruiz Lopez ESP 01:02:48
9. Guenther Matzinger AUT 01:02:53
10. Yannick Bourseaux FRA 01:03:34
Results: PTVI Men
1. Brad Snyder B1 USA 01:01:16
2. Héctor Catalá Laparra B2 ESP 01:02:11
3. Satoru Yoneoka B1 JPN 01:02:20
4. Thibaut Rigaudeau B2 FRA 01:02:48
5. Kyle Coon B1 USA 01:03:00
6. Antoine Perel B1 FRA 01:03:49
7. Jose Luis García Serrano B1 ESP 01:03:55
8. Jonathan Goerlach B3 AUS 01:06:18
9. Anatolii Varfolomieiev B1 UKR 01:08:24
DNF. Dave Ellis B3 GBR DNF
Results: PTWC Women
1. Kendall Gretsch H2 USA 01:06:25
2. Lauren Parker H1 AUS 01:06:26
3. Eva María Moral Pedrero H1 ESP 01:14:59
4. Jessica Ferreira H1 BRA 01:16:23
5. Brenda Osnaya Alvarez H1 MEX 01:16:32
6. Mona Francis H2 FRA 01:16:49
7. Margret Ijdema H1 NED 01:16:55
8. Rita Cuccuru H1 ITA 01:19:06
9. Wakako Tsuchida H2 JPN 01:22:32
DNF. Emily Tapp H1 AUS DNF
Results: PTS2 Women
1. Allysa Seely USA 01:14:03
2. Hailey Danz USA 01:14:58
3. Veronica Yoko Plebani ITA 01:15:55
4. Fran Brown GBR 01:19:42
5. Melissa Stockwell USA 01:21:25
6. Yukako Hata JPN 01:28:04
7. Rakel Mateo Uriarte ESP 01:30:37
8. Veronika Gabitova RPC 01:39:40