Paralympic Games Triathlon: Great Britain confirms largest ever paratriathlon team for Paris

Great Britain will field a team of 11 paratriathletes, plus three guides, at the Paralympic Games triathlon events on Sunday 1 and Monday 2 September.

The team comprises previous Paralympic Games medallists and multiple World and European Champions, alongside a host of young up-and-coming talent.

Steadman back to defend

Following silver in Rio and then stepping on to the top step of the podium in Tokyo, Lauren Steadman will be aiming to retain that title in the very competitive Women’s PTS5 category. We spoke at length recently to Lauren in a two part interview series, and she will be competing at a Paralympic Games for a fifth time.

Lauren Steadman of Great Britain pictured after winning gold at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo in the summer of 2021 (Photo – World Triathlon).

Speaking about her Paralympic Games selection, Steadman said: “It feels super exciting to be selected for my fifth Games. I am very honoured to fly the flag for British Triathlon and ParalympicsGB again and will do everything within my power to defend my gold medal.

“It’s just really exciting that if there was a little Lauren who was 14 years old starting her journey again, how proud she would be of the Lauren stepping up to go and race in Paris.

“I’m very, very excited and I hope that the legacy I can leave behind is not just of great sporting achievements but also that if anyone who dares to believe, dares to dream, they can have the career that they’d love to.”

Lauren will once again be up against British rival, Claire Cashmore, who is potentially set to take her Paralympic medal total into double figures. Bronze in paratriathlon at Tokyo 2020 added to eight previous medals in para-swimming. Both of the Brits will be up against the USA’s Grace Norman, in what will likely be one of the highlights of the 11 category program. That trio have continued to raise the bar in their division.

The podium at the 2023 WTPS event in Swansea

More experience

Adding to the experienced side of the team will be Alison Peasgood in the women’s PTVI classification, guided this year by Brooke Gillies. Alison – who we also spoke to recently – was the silver medallist eight years ago in Rio, and then finished just off the podium in fourth, five years later in Paris. She is back to racing after the birth of her first child, Logan, in August 2023.

“It’s been such an emotional rollercoaster to get to this point of qualifying for my third games. When I was holding my tiny baby in my arms last August, I didn’t know how it was all going to be possible.

“It’s taken a village to get me to this point and I’m grateful to all of them for their support. I am looking forward to representing ParalympicsGB alongside my amazing guide Brooke. Not sure what my son Logan will make of it all, but I hope one day he will be proud to have been part of this journey with me.”

Alison Peasgood races in Abu Dhabi in 2022 [Photo credit: World Triathlon]

Six-time World champion, Dave Ellis (Men’s PTVI), will race with long-term guide Luke Pollard with the pair looking to add to their World and Commonwealth champion status having suffered a DNF as a result of a mechanical failure on their bike in Tokyo.

Michael Taylor (Men’s PTS4) will also return having finished eighth in Tokyo, whilst Mel Nicholls (Women’s PTWC) will compete in her third Paralympic Games and her first since moving into paratriathlon. Nicholls has previously represented ParalympicsGB in para-athletics and only switched to paratriathlon in 2022.

Debutants

Loughborough University student Henry Urand (Men’s PTS3) made the transition from para-cycling to paratriathlon in 2023 and has qualified for his first Paralympic Games having finished first or second in five of his six international races in the last 12 months.

Urand said: “I am honoured to be selected as a part of the paratriathlon team heading out to Paris. It feels surreal at the moment, and not something I thought was possible when I switched to triathlon 15 months ago.

“It means so much being able to go to Paris and showcase para-sport to the world stage. It is extra special that it is a Games that is close to home, where family and friends can come and watch.”

Also making their Games debuts in Paris will be Finley Jakes (Men’s PTS4), Hannah Moore and Megan Richter (both Women’s PTS4), and Oscar Kelly and his guide Charlie Harding in the men’s PTVI classification.

Kelly and Harding also teamed up to represent England at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, with Moore and Richter sharing six medals between them so far this year. Jakes has developed through the British Triathlon system, progressing from taking part in a Talent ID Day, through the pathway and onto the World Class Programme to reach his first Paralympic Games.

Photo Credit: Ben Lumley / World Triathlon

“Success, comebacks and personal triumphs”

Tom Hodgkinson, Head of Paratriathlon at British Triathlon, said of the squad: “To be able to take a large and talented team of athletes and guides to Paris is incredibly exciting for me, British Triathlon and the sport in Britain.

“Across the team we’ve got stories of success, comebacks and personal triumphs. Lauren coming back into the team having taken time away to start her PhD, Alison returning as a mother, and Dave and Luke returning to the top of the sport again after some bad luck in Tokyo really show the people behind the results.

“We’ve also got a strong cohort of athletes who’ve put performances together throughout 2024 to secure qualification. There were a lot of challenges last year which have been overcome and the character demonstrated puts us as a team in a good place moving forwards.

“Everyone in the squad has a fantastic story to tell of this cycle and with a team of people behind them who have helped get them to this point. The coming weeks from our holding camp in France and through to Paris will be an amazing next chapter in those stories and I’m looking forward to shaping and sharing the experience with the selected athletes of ParalympicsGB for Paris 2024.”

Tom Hodgkinson