Chloe MacCombe and Aoibh Clarke won gold at the World Triathlon Abu Dhabi Para World Cup in the Women’s PTVI category. This was the pairs first time competing together in a triathlon, and first time at this level having last raced together during the test event for the Paris Paralympic Games. They will be delighted to secure points at the earliest opportunity towards LA2028 qualification. You can read the full report HERE.
In India, Luke McCarron had his first ever international podium taking bronze in a large field at the Asia Triathlon Cup Chennai. Italy’s Francesco Di Basilico and Takuto Oshima representing Japan were first and second respectively.
Luke’s race came down to a hard-fought sprint finish, as McCarron explained, “I was happy to get some clear water in the swim and come out of the water in third. The bike course was wide, flat and fast but I was able to stay near the front of the pack and set myself up well for the run. I had to manage a stitch for the first half of the run, however I was able to get into my running properly on the second half and fought my way up into fourth.
“I thought that’s where I’d finish but gave it one last dig with 80m left and just stole the bronze by the smallest of margins. I’m delighted with my first international podium and it’s a good start to 2025. Next up is another Asian Cup in Malaysia next week before a big block of training and completing my last clinical rotation of my medical internship.”
Full results are available HERE.
On Saturday, James Edgar had his second start in a World Triathlon Championship Series race. The closely fought race on the fast sprint course saw Edgar emerge from the water with a large pack in 22nd and 20 seconds down from the leaders.
Working to stay in contention on the bike, James battled for position on the run, making up some spots out of T2 and crossing the line for 32nd. This WTCS round was won by New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde, Matthew Hauser (AUS) in second, and Vasco Vilaca from Portugal in third.
James summarised his race, saying “[The] Race on the whole was good, had a decent swim that kept me in contention, managed to ride up to the front pack on the bike but a poor choice of wheels through a technical section caused a group of us to be dropped and it extended from there. Legs weren’t great on the run so hoping for much more next time out. But a personal best finish at World Series level so can’t be too harsh on the result.
“Next up for me is Lievin Indoor World Cup where I’m looking for a bit of redemption after missing the final last year by less than a second.”
Full results from the World Triathlon Cup in Abu Dhabi can be found HERE.
The World Triathlon Championship Series Mixed Team Relay saw the Irish team have a successful season opener. The team of Erin McConnell, James Edgar, Hollie Elliott and Russell White logged solid performances, finishing eighth and earning the team valuable experience to take forward at this level through the coming season. Performance Director Gordon Crawford summarised after the race saying, “It was great to see our Mixed Team Relay (MTR) get their first WTCS start to begin the new LA 2028 cycle.
“It was a very encouraging performance from each of the team who worked hard for each other in a challenging race. At one point in the race, the team was placed fifth. Our eighth place will move the team to the Top 20 in the World Rankings for the first time ever and should enable a start at the MTR race in Hamburg followed by the European MTR Champs a week later. I know the team and the wider group are highly motivated for MTR racing over the next four years.”
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