British brilliant in Para triathlon Europeans

Hannah Moore was one of five British winners at the European Para Triathlon Championships in Tartu, Estonia, as the 21-year-old captured the title exactly two years and one day after losing her leg.

Moore (1:15:57) only made her international debut in May, and less than two months later, she was standing atop of the women’s PTS4 podium, finishing nearly 15 minutes ahead of Cassie Cava – formerly of Great Britain but now competing under the International Triathlon Union (ITU) flag.

Great Britain’s Fran Brown, Dave Ellis, Alison Patrick and Lauren Steadman all also secured victories on Thursday (19 July).

There was a British one-two in the women’s PTS5 race as Steadman (1:09:12) got the better of her compatriot Claire Cashmore to secure her sixth European title. Paralympic swimmer Cashmore held off France’s Gwladys Lemoussu to claim the silver medal by 10 seconds.

In the women’s PTS2, Brown (1:21:24) led from start to finish to collect her first international win. Silver went to Spain’s Rakel Mateo Uriarte and bronze to Italy’s Veronica Yoko Plebani.

World champion Ellis (1:03:35) successfully defended his continental title in the men’s PTVI ahead of Poland’s Lukasz Wietecki and Ukraine’s Vasyl Zakrevskyi, respectively.

In the women’s PTVI, Patrick (1:10:02) was victorious in a close battle with Spain’s Susana Rodriguez, who had a 30-second advantage over Patrick after the swim. After a strong performance on the bike by Patrick, only seconds separated the pair heading onto the run. Patrick was quicker in the final leg and crossed the line 15 seconds ahead of Rodriguez.

Spanish success

The men’s PTS3 race saw another close battle between British and Spanish Para triathletes with just two seconds separating Daniel Molina and Ryan Taylor at the finish line. Spain’s Molina (1:09:37) led in the swim, but a strong bike leg saw his British opponent catch up. Molina held off Taylor’s charge on the run to win what turned out to be a sprint finish between the pair. Russia’s Victor Chebotarev* finished third.

Eva Maria Moral Pedrero (1:21:26) gave Spain another gold medal with her first European title after three second-place finishes in the women’s PTWC event. The Netherlands’ Margret Ijdema and France’s Mona Francis took home silver and bronze, respectively.

Gold stays with Dutch

Four-time European champion Jetze Plat was not in Estonia to defend his PTWC title, but his compatriot Geert Schipper(1:03:11) kept the gold in Dutch hands.

Great Britain’s Commonwealth Games champion Joe Townsend and Italy’s Giovanni Achenza were side-by-side heading onto the run. Townsend produced the quicker finish to secure silver crossing the line 27 seconds ahead of Achenza.

Maurits Morsink (1:07:55) secured the Netherlands’ second win of the Championships taking the men’s PTS2. World champion Andrew Lewis of Great Britain finished second, while Spain’s Lionel Morales completed the top-three.

French fight through

There was double delight for France as Alexis Hanquinquant and Elise Marc both celebrated victories.

Hanquinquant (1:03:24) successfully defended his PTS4 title. Austria’s silver medallist Oliver Dreier and Russia’s bronze medallist Mikhail Kolmakov* rounded off the podium.

Marc (1:20:36) got the better of Russia’s Anna Plotnikova* in a straight head-to-head battle for European gold.

Germany’s Martin Schulz (59:33) maintained his 2018 winning streak in the men’s PTS5 by defending his European title. The German held off Spain’s Jairo Ruiz Lopez and France’s Yannick Bourseaux, who finished second and third, respectively.

Complete results from the 2018 European Championships are available on the International Triathlon Union’s website.

*Editor's note: The International Paralympic Committee suspended the Russian Paralympic Committee on 7 August 2016 for its inability to fulfil its IPC membership responsibilities and obligations, in particular its obligation to comply with the IPC Anti-Doping Code and the World Anti-Doping Code (to which it is also a signatory). As a result of the suspension, Russian athletes cannot enter IPC sanctioned events or competitions, including the Paralympic Games.