Team Ireland at the World Triathlon Para Champs

The five strong Irish contingent raced at the World Triathlon Para Champs in Abu Dhabi this morning.

Taking place on the same track as the World Triathlon Championship Series, the sprint distance course certainly has its challenges. Among them are the soaring temperatures and a technical bike course.

McCarthy and MacCombe 8th in PTVI

Both Donnacha McCarthy and Chloe MacCombe finished eighth in their respective PTVI races earlier today.

McCarthy and guide Sean Husband didn’t get off to the best start and were at the back of the field after the swim. The pair dug deep and put in solid bike and run performances to move up five places, eventually running out of road to cross the line in eighth.

Still new to the international scene, Chloe MacCombe and Catherine Sands put in another solid performance against some of the best in the world today.

Needing to make up some time out of the water, the pair had the third quickest bike split of the entire field. They followed this with one of the quicker runs of the day to move into eighth, just four seconds behind Vita Oleksiuk (UKR) in seventh.

Oliver Gunning and his guide Stephen Teeling-Lynch also raced in the men’s PTVI, gaining valuable experience at international level for the second week in a row. After their race, Gunning and Teeling-Lynch were happy with their performance;

“I thought the swim was tough to be honest with you, I really struggled in the swim.”

“The bike was fast, warm but, we were good on the bike and then the run we just held on for dear life”

Teeling-Lynch added;

“The goal was to swim hard and bike hard, like being our first world championships we said we wanted to be in the mix coming off the bike and we said ‘look, we’re going to sacrifice the run this time around’. That was our goal. This guy (Gunning) is only 17 years of age, you’ve got to remember that, there’s plenty of time left ahead of him.”

“Plenty of learning today, plenty of things to take away, go away and work hard at. Not just for him but for me as well.”

Tough Conditions

Mark Millar followed up his silver last week in Alhandra with a top ten finish today in a World Class field. Speaking afterwards, Mark summed up his race;

“I’d a tough start, the swim didn’t really go to plan I missed the first buoy so ended up swimming a bit longer than I would have liked. After that I just got stuck into the bike…just too much ground to make up. But happy enough, eighth place so can’t complain!”

In the PTS5 Class, Aidan McGlynn finished in 13th, finding the conditions tough. Speaking afterwards he said;

“Very hot race, tried my best to prepare at home for it as best I could but I don’t think anything can prepare you for these conditions. Really happy with the race. Glad to be back racing, looking forward to racing next year again and putting in a good winter.”

Results and Coverage

Full results are available on triathlon.org here. You can rewatch all the action on triathlonlive.tv.

Up Next

That is just the start of this weekend’s international racing!

In Portugal, a team of five Irish athletes will compete at the 2021 Europe Triathlon Cup and Mediterranean Championships Quarteira. In the Elite Men’s race, Russell White and James Edgar are on the start list. White is making his first return to racing since this summer’s Olympics.

In the Elite Women’s event, Ailbhe Carroll, Erin McConnell and Chloe Pollard will represent Team Ireland.

On Sunday, sisters Olivia and Charlotte Moore will represent Ireland at the Junior World Championships Quarteira, their first international start!

Niall Cornyn races at the 2021 World Triathlon Duathlon Championships Aviles on Saturday, 6th November.

We’ll bring you all the updates on our social channels as we have them.

How to Watch

All of the above races will be available to view on triathlonlive.tv.