Dunkerly gets 7th at Devonport ITU World Paratriathlon Series Race
Jon Dunkerly and his guide James Cook continued their quest for a spot at the Tokyo Paralympics in Australia this weekend.
Canada’s Jon Dunkerly continued his quest for a spot at the Paralympics in Tokyo as he and his guide, James Cook, took seventh at this weekend’s Devonport ITU World Paratriathlon Series event in Australia.
Competing in the PTVI category, Dunkerly took seventh on the weekend. There are three different categories within the visually impaired division – Dunkerly is in the B1 category, which means he is completely blind.
Related: Jon Dunkerly and James Cook: Canada’s Next Paralympic Stars?
Dunkerly is a two-time Paralympian, having represented Canada on the track at the 2008 and 2012 Paralympic Games in Beijing and London. He turned his sights to triathlon in 2016 after retiring from competitive athletics in 2015. He finished fourth at the Edmonton ITU World Paralympic Series event in 2017 and won the Paratriathlon World Cup race in Magog in 2018.
Right now Dunkerly sits at 15th on the ITU Paralympic qualification list – he needs to be in the top nine to be assured of a spot in Tokyo.
This weekend’s race was won by Australian Jonathan Goerlach and his guide Sam Douglas – the two sit third in the ITU Paratriathlon rankings right now, so the result pretty much guarantees they will be in Tokyo in August. Serbia’s Lazar Filipovic moved himself up a spot to eighth in the rankings with his silver medal performance, while France’s Arnaud Grandjean maintained also moved up a spot (to sixth) by taking the bronze.
Next up for Dunkerly will be the 2020 Sarasota PATCO Paratriathlon Panamerican Championships in a couple of weeks.
