Stefan Daniel takes silver at World Triathlon Para Championships
Canadian Para star earns eighth-straight world championships podium finish
Photo by: World TriathlonAfter a string of five victories, Canadian Stefan Daniel had to “settle” with a silver medal performance at the World Triathlon Para Championships, his eighth consecutive podium appearance at the worlds in the PTS5 division.
Daniel finished third at the Paris Test Event, which was changed to a duathlon due to water issues in the Seine. The race in Pontevedra yesterday offers lots of good news for the two-time Paralympic medalist (silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo) as he continues to build towards Paris next year.
“The race went as good as I could have expected,” he said after the race. “Obviously, initially I was disappointed not to win, but I know I’m going in the right direction for next year.”
“I came out of the water on the feet of the leader which was the goal in the swim,” added Daniel. “I road quite well and went back and forth with Martin (Schulz) a bit.”
Schulz is the two-time Paralympic gold medalist, and the German managed to get out of T2 a few seconds ahead of Daniel. Schulz put together a 15:40 5 km run and crossed the line in 56:18. Daniel would take second in 56:45, with American Chris Hammer taking the bronze in 56:45.
Stefan Daniel and tri talent help the Dinos win the USports XC Championships
“In the run, I did what I could with what I had today and fought to the end,” Daniel said. “The run is starting to come back and I ran way better than I did in Paris which I’m quite happy about. Martin had a great race and was well deserving of the World Championship.”
“That was a really good effort for Stef,” said Canadian Para coach, Carolyn Murray. “He had an excellent swim, a strong bike and progress was made on the run. We have time to build on this performance for Paris next year.”
Frenette takes fourth
Canadian Kamylle Frenette took fourth (1:07:16) in the women’s PTS5 behind American Grace Norman (1:03:28), and Great Britain’s Claire Cashmore (1:04:39) and Lauren Steadman (1:05:45).
Another Canadian, Leanne Taylor, took fifth in the wheelchair division, which was won by Australia’s Lauren Parker.
You can see the full World Triathlon Para Championship results here.