Emily Tapp Claims Her First World Paratriathlon Series in Montreal

Emily Tapp has put together an outstanding race to claim her first World Paratriathlon Series title of the season and valuable Paralympic qualifications points in Montreal, Canada overnight.

With the race marking the first opportunity for athletes to secure Paralympic qualification points towards Tokyo 2020, Tapp’s win places her in good stead ahead of the Paralympic test event later this year.

Competing alongside Commonwealth Games teammate Lauren Parker in the PTWC class, the Australian duo threw down the gauntlet to their opposition early on, setting a cracking pace in the swim to place a sizeable gap between themselves and their opposition.

Heading onto the bike, the pair continued to push their competitors to their limits, with Tapp making chase to narrow Parker’s lead to just 13 seconds heading into the final transition.

With the finish in sight, Tapp dropped the hammer on the final leg of the race to blitz home and claim her first WPS win of 2019 in 01:07.24.7, just over a minute in front of her nearest competitor.

A valiant fight from WPS Yokohama bronze medallist, Lauren Parker saw her take home a close fourth in 01:09:34.9, after she was chased down on the run by a highly competitive field.

Japan’s Wakako Tsuchida put on a thrilling chase in the final leg to take home silver in 01:08:25.1. While Great Britain’s Jade Hall made up for lost time to record the fastest bike and run legs of the race and secure bronze in 01:08:26.2.

Jonathan Goerlach (PTVI) produced a solid sprint home to take 5th in 1:03:00, after a difficult swim put him on the back foot from the get go. Great Britain’s Dave Ellis set a blistering pace on the bike, before a finishing strong to secure his first World Paratriathlon Series title of the season.

Sally Pilbeam (PTS4) and Kate Doughty (PTS5) both felt the heat of the quality fields in Montreal throughout their events, putting together solid efforts to take out 5th and 6th in their respective classes.

The World Paratriathlon Series now turns its attention towards the 2019 ITU World Triathlon Grand Final in Lausanne, Switzerland in late August.