Paris Paralympics Triathlon 2024. Irish athletes in PTVI and PTS4 Women

PTVI Race

A deciding factor is likely to be the water current on the day. Anything like the women's race in the Olympics and Tarantello must be favourite to open up a big enough gap to hold on from the faster runner Rodriguez. In fact there has to be a real chance that the swim is cancelled if the current is as fast as it was earlier in the month.

The battle for third place is wide open. The two Irish teams, Chloe MacCombe and Catherine Sands, Judith MacCombe and Eimear Nicholls, have been competitive with all the contenders over the last year and have beaten all on numerous occasions. Only Annouck Curzillat has been consistently able to beat them and then sometimes in Duathlon format, although the World Championships in Pontevedra last year was perhaps the most representative race where she finished 3rd behind the 2 favourites here in Paris, Rodriguez and Tarantello. Heloise Courvoisier and Alison Peasgood will also be in contention but the Irish teams seem to be ahead of both. 

The real danger for 3rd and indeed any Podium spot is Anja Renner. The winner in Paris last year  when it was a duathlon, admittedly in the absence of Rodriguez, Renner was also 4th in Pontevedra.

Can either Irish Team get a medal? Absolutely, and both would have an equal shot based on the results data. Anything can happen in the swim as we saw in the Olympics and certainly the form on the day of not just the para athletes but the guides as well will be significant. Another factor in close races could be the aggression of the guides on the bike considering the circuit and road surface.

With a swim I am going to go against Rodriguez and select Tarantello and in a duathlon it's Rodriguez over Renner. But tough races to call.

PTS4 Race

Can anyone beat Kelly Elmlinger in the PTS4 race? Only beaten once in a PTS4 race since 2019 and coming into the Games with 9 straight wins it would seem unlikely. However, new to the circuit, and still a junior, Grace Brimelow must have a real chance at taking over at the head of the category. Also unbeaten, not counting a DSQ where she led all splits, she comes to Paris with 1 World Para Cup and 1 World Para Series win. They have yet to meet head to head and Brimelow has only raced against a limited number of the other top athletes so the data points are not well established but she did beat Megan Richter by over a minute in Devonport and will be improving every day. 

With 2 outstanding contenders for the win the bronze medal will be quite open as in the PTVI category. Marta Frances Gomes, Richter, Sally Pilbeam and Elise Marc are probably the favourites but Elke Van Engelen and Hannoh Moore will have chances. Marc, who may well be a contender for the best Paratriathlete in the world right now, is the top ranked PTS3 athlete and in with a real chance of a medal. Not only is she unbeaten in the PTS3 category since 2021 she was 2nd overall in combined time in both the World Championships in Pontevedra and the duathlon format Paris World Cup. 

Casie Cava, PTS3, is the Irish representative in the PTS4 race. While Cava is unlikely to be in medal contention she will be a strong contender to be 2nd PTS3 athlete behind Marc and on her best day to finish ahead of one of the PTS4 athletes would be a huge result. She is a strong, and smart, swimmer so may benefit from the tougher swim than normal.

Again for this race I going to go against the favourite and pick Brimelow for the win with Elmlinger second and Marc picking up the bronze. 

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