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Team Ireland were strongly represented in the Para Triathlon with Cassie Cava competing in the women’s PTS4 category, while Chloe MacCombe guided by Catherine Sands and Judith MacCombe guided by Eimear Nicholls competed in the PTVI women’s race. All focus were on the Seine with the start line pontoon launching the para triathletes into a battle against the city’s elements and the world’s top competitors. The Pont Alexandre III bridge marked the final, decisive stretch toward the finish line.

The competition kicked off with a 750 metre swim, a single lap technical course where the para triathletes battled against the current for the second half of the swim before heading back towards transition 1. The cycle presented 5x 3.7km laps, with challenging road surfaces and sharp turns.

Chloe MacCombe guided by Catherine Sands put in a determined performance to secure 6th place in the PTVI category at their debut Paralympic Games. Exiting the water in 9th place, the pair put in a strong fight on the bike course to strengthen their position going into the final determining run, producing the 4th fastest bike split.

Chloe shared her sentiments on the on the bike course, “Absolutely nailed it. I mean, too much that I was absolutely busted going into the run but the legs came back. If you get to the Paralympics you have to just give it everything – and that’s what we did.”

An equipment penalty in Transition 2 cost the pair 10 seconds. Chloe finished 4th in the run, posting a run split just 52 seconds behind World Champion Tarantello who claimed 3rd overall. Chloe MacCombe & guide Catherine Sands finished with an overall time of 1:10:32, 2 minutes and 11 seconds away from a podium finish.

Ranked 3rd in the world, Chloe MacCombe was in the chase for the podium at her debut Paralympic Games.

“You always have your eyes on the podium but ultimately we just wanted to go out and just give it everything. Control the controllable, just cross the line knowing you gave everything and that’s what we did so.”

Judith MacCombe & guide Eimear Nicholls claimed 8th place finishing 45 seconds behind Chloe & guide Catherine, with an overall time of 01:11:17 at their debut Paralympic Games.

After exiting the water in 10th place, the ambitious duo worked to claw back time, producing the 2nd fastest bike split of the race – clocking a faster time than 2x Paralympic Champion Susana Rodriguez & 3 seconds behind World Champion Anja Renner, who produced the fastest cycle.

Speaking on her overall performance Judith talked about the challenging few days leading up to the race, “I feel below par. I’ve been sick for the past few days. Even getting on the start line today was incredible. If the race had been yesterday, I wouldn’t have even gotten the chance to start. So even just to be on the start line today was just incredible. You’ve never seen someone happier about a race being postponed.”

Guide Eimear Nicholls added, “I’m just so proud of Judith after what she’s been through over the past two days. We had been delayed by at least one day. Two days and we may have been even better, but one day at least got us on the start line. And Judith gave it her all. She was not herself on the run. Her run is her strength, and she would usually run at least a minute quicker than that.”

The pair only started working together over a year ago & have put in an outstanding performance throughout the season to secure qualification. Looking ahead, Eimear spoke of their ambitions:

“We’re definitely looking forward to the rest of the season. We’ve got two more races coming up. And then beyond that, we’ll definitely be gunning for LA.”

Adding to the strong representation of Team Ireland was Cassie Cava in the highly anticipated PTS4 category. Making her Paralympic debut, Cassie Cava placed 12th with a time of 01:37:29. Cava stayed true to her style, producing a strong swim with an impressive time of 00:14:22, 19 seconds behind bronze winner Marta Francés Gómez. Cassie remained steady in 12th place in both her bike and run splits.

Speaking directly after the race, Cassie Cava said, “I’ve got real mixed emotions, that was tough, I don’t think I’ve ever been in so much pain. I slipped on the stairs on the way to the start, I just got up and carried on with adrenaline. I got onto the bike and was in so much pain, every lap I thought ‘I can’t, I’ve got to stop’, I just pushed through, it was so painful, it was the toughest race ever pain wise.”

Cava added, “I didn’t come here to quit, I just got around trying to get to the finish and I’m really glad that I did. It’s not what I came here to do, I came here to race better so I’m a little disappointed.”