Just a couple of weeks after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was brought to a close by Tom Cruise, we now turn our attentions back to the French capital for Paralympic Games.
Taking place from August 28 to September 8 2024, the Paratriathlon events are scheduled to be held over two days, September 1 and 2. This will be the third Paralympic Games featuring Paratriathlon, with the number of medals on offer this time around increasing to an almost full complement, with 11 of the 12 World Triathlon Para categories featuring on the program.
The Men’s PTVI (visually impaired) division has consistently been one of the strongest in international racing in recent years, with small margins typically between a large proportion of the athletes in the biggest races.
I recently spoke to the gold medal favourites in Paris, Dave Ellis and Guide Luke Pollard, but if they are the experienced hands, then ParalympicsGB also has youth on their side too, courtesy of Oscar Kelly and his Guide, Charlie Harding. At just 23 and 21 respectively, they are talents for both the present and future.
I took the opportunity to chat to both recently on their ‘kitting out’ day, and while they will certainly be collecting experience, the fast-improving pairing are not putting limits on what they could achieve.
Calm under pressure
Ending the World Triathlon Paralympic Qualification ranking period comfortably within the required top nine, while formal selection came recently, in reality it’s not something they have had to be concerned about, as Oscar explained:
“We’ve probably known for a while that we were effectively qualified – we were very confident in our consistency that qualification would happen. It’s a first Games for us, but what we’ve really focussed on this year about races is not to focus on the race until the day before; just chill out, and you enjoy the process a lot more. If we go to another Games in the future – which touch wood we will – we’ve got experience behind us.”
Charlie echoed that professional, but calm approach and making sure that they arrive ready to perform at their best:
“We are both in that mindset of just trying to treat it as any other race – you don’t have to do anything special at this point, just keep doing what you are doing. We are really going to enjoy this experience and try not to get over-excited before. After the race, we’ve got a bit of time in Paris to really soak up the atmosphere.”
A big step up in performance
Rewinding 24 months, Kelly and Harding were among the favourites to challenge for medals at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, until a puncture impacted their race, where they would ultimately finish in fifth position.
When we spoke to Oscar last year, he highlighted the bike leg as their relative weakness – another year on, how would he compare the 2022 vs. 2024 duo?
“I don’t want to exaggerate and say light years apart, but there’s definitely been a step. We made a step up just before Commonwealth Games, and there were some places where we gained a lot of time without getting fitter. We’ve reinforced those gains – having that understanding that our bike wasn’t the strongest by far – but we’ve upped that power, which was a limiting factor. Then add bikes and technology, to try and be the best that we can be.”
Along with fitness and performance comes confidence, reflected by Charlie:
“There’s such a difference. I don’t think two years ago, we would be anywhere near the quality of athletes that will be racing in Paris. But now, with the fitness we have, I think we will be up there contending, hopefully.”
Reflecting on that depth I mentioned in the introduction, forecasting potential results is not easy, so Kelly and Harding have other targets, as well as calling on previous experience to perform at their debut Paralympic Games. Oscar explained:
“There are definitely other strong categories, but the racing in VI men can definitely be very interesting with athletes being so close and interesting. I think there will be four or five athletes coming through within less than a couple of minutes which will be exciting to watch, but that means you definitely can’t guarantee where you might finish. Even your best day you might be anywhere from on the podium to lower down the field. Working on consistency, of how good you can be all the time, every time, is key.
“The Commonwealth Games was not the same, but was definitely a bigger environment to what we are used to in World Triathlon races, so hopefully that experience will help us be a bit calmer.”
Learnings from Paris 2023
The World Triathlon Para Cup Paris last year provided the Test Event for this year. That event was held in duathlon format – with the British duo finishing fourth – what did they take away from it?
“We chose not to do the swim recce – we just didn’t want to risk illness, so we didn’t get that chance in the swim, but we did get to understand the bike and run courses,” explains Oscar.
“It was really tight racing because it was a duathlon, as everyone was a little less spread out after the first run, compared to a swim. It was good to understand the course when it’s a little more bunched up, where you can take time out of people etc. Charlie and I had never done a duathlon together – I’d done a couple with other Guides – but it was by far the best duathlon performance that I’ve ever done.”
Charlie highlighted some of the technical aspects – both of the course, and the particular challenges that Paratriathlon equipment can be impacted by:
“We learned a lot. You’ve got the cobbles, and then there was something like 40 corners, really technical, and the run was on some cobbles too, so very different to normal races. Just having that experience of the technicalities, we can replicate that in training, so we can go in quite prepared for it.
“What it also highlighted, especially with adapted bikes that you can’t buy off the shelf, is that mechanical preparations are really key. We didn’t have any issues ourselves, but several other athletes did. Bike reliability is really important. We want a quick bike, but also a reliable one. It’s been a big focus for us.”
Praise for the under-appreciated Guide role
Oscar was also keen to heap praise on his Guide, Charlie – but also on the athletes that perform that role, typically without fanfare:
“We’ve spoken about that before, but it is very much under-appreciated how good Guides are – they are not just your ‘average Joe’. They don’t just have to keep up, but push on to the limits to what we are able to do.
“They also put themselves under a lot of pressure, because if something goes wrong, it isn’t just their race and they feel a lot of responsibility towards us as athletes. That can be quite hard and isn’t typically seen. That mental strength to take that pressure, and work under it and perform – it’s almost doubled, so they are very under-estimated, I think.”
‘Competing, not participating’ is the #NotPlayingGames International Paralympic Committee (IPC) campaign around the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, and that approach certainly fits for Kelly, who does not see Paris as a ‘one and done’ experience:
I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I don’t think I would be happy if we only went to one Games.
“I don’t see success as being able to race well once, it’s being able to replicate, and I would like to go to three, four. We’ll also see how Charlie progresses himself as an individual athlete, and if there’s any rule changes around what he’s able to do in his individual racing as to where he goes with his career beyond Guiding, as he’s a phenomenal athlete is his own right.
