Grace Norman at the 2023 World Triathlon Para Championships.
PONTEVEDRA, Spain — Seven U.S. elite paratriathletes won medals on Saturday, Sept. 23 at the 2023 World Triathlon Para World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain, and five U.S. elite paratriathletes qualified for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games to cap the 2023 elite paratriathlon season. Ring Bottle Opener
Grace Norman (Jamestown, Ohio ), Hailey Danz (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Kelly Elmlinger (San Antonio, Texas) won gold on Saturday in their respective PTS5, PTS2 and PTS4 sport classes. U.S. teammates Kendall Gretsch (Downers Grove, Ill., PTWC) and Mohamed Lahna (Elk Grove, Calif.) won silver, and Chris Hammer (Gilbert, Ariz., PTS5) and Allysa Seely (Glendale, Ariz.) earned the bronze to cap the seven medals won by U.S. elite paratriathletes.
Five athletes earned qualification for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games on Saturday by virtue of their top-two performances in Pontevedra — Norman, Danz, Elmlinger, Gretsch and Lahna. All U.S. Paralympic Team nominations are pending final approval by the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee.
In the women's PTS5 race, Norman turned in a dominant performance, winning her second consecutive world title in a time of 1 hour, 3 minutes, 28 seconds, more than 1 minute ahead of Great Britain's Claire Cashmore. The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic silver medalist, Norman clocked the field's fastest bike and run splits on Saturday — including an 18:22 5K — to earn her fourth world title, eighth career World Championships medal and cap an undefeated 2023 season.
In the women’s PTS2 race, Danz turned in a dominant swim-run performance, clocking the fastest time in each discipline, to win her third consecutive world title, fourth overall world title and ninth World Championships medal in her career.
Elmlinger won gold in the women's PTS4, a classification that will make its Paralympic debut at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024. A U.S. Army veteran and Tokyo 2020 Paralympian, Elmlinger finished in 1:10:42, more than 3 minutes ahead of Spain’s Marta Francez Gomes to win her second world title and fourth overall World Championships medal.
Gretsch won silver in the women's PTWC race, nearly catching Australia's Lauren Parker. Gretsch — who beat Parker to win Paralympic gold at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games— finished the race in a time of 1:11:19, 41 seconds back of Parker. The silver is Gretsch’s sixth World Championships medal in her career.
Hammer earned the bronze on Saturday in men’s PTS5, his second consecutive bronze performance at Worlds and sixth overall World Championships medal. Seely earned bronze in women’s PTS2, her sixth overall World Championships medal.
Eighteen elite paratriathletes competed at Saturday’s World Championships. For the full Paratriathlon results, click here. Watch the full race replay on Triathlonlive.tv.
2023 World Triathlon Para Championships Pontevedra
750m swim, 19.6k bike, 5k run
2. Mohamed Lahna (Elk Grove, Calif.), 1:06:20
5. Carson Clough (Charlotte, N.C.), 1:01:32
6. Kyle Coon (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 1:00:52
2. Kendall Gretsch (Downers Grove, Ill.), 1:11:19
8. Emelia Perry (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 1:19:17
1. Hailey Danz (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 1:14:38
4. Melissa Stockwell (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 1:20:30
2. Kenya Yesenia Villobos Vargas (MEX), 1:25:01
1. Kelly Elmlinger (San Antonio, Texas), 1:10:42
11. Deborah Chucoski (Corning, N.Y.), 1:18:38
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