The Olympic 10K Marathon Swims in the Seine on August 8th and 9th were fantastic races to watch and were presented very well by the French hosts. Overall, from the ground as a fan and spectator, the 2024 Paris Olympic Games were a wonderful, peaceful celebration of sport.

Now, the world can cheer on and support all the incredible athletes of the Paralympics between August 28th and September 8th. They will compete in para archery, para athletics (track & field), para badminton, blind football (soccer), boccia, para canoe, para cycling, para equestrian, goalball, para judo, para powerlifting, para rowing, shooting Para sport, sitting volleyball, para swimming, para table tennis, para taekwondo, para triathlon, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby, and wheelchair tennis.

Para Triathlon

The Para triathlon will include 11 medal races with a 750m swim held in the Seine on September 1st (for athletes in the PTS2 to PTS5 categories) and 2nd (for athletes in the PTVI and PTWC categories) on the same triathlon and marathon swimming course as was held at the Summer Olympics.

Event Classes

• PTWC: athletes with impaired muscle power, athetosis, impaired passive range of movement, hypertonia, limb deficiency, ataxia, vision impairment.
• PTWC 1-2: wheelchair athletes with limitations in lower (PTWC2) and upper limbs (PTWC1), using a handcycle for the bike and a racing wheelchair for the run. A lower number indicates a more severe activity limitation.
• PT 2-5: athletes with limitations in lower and/or upper limbs (lower class number means there is more limitations) who compete in regular biking and running. Assistive devices such as prosthetic legs and/or bike modifications are regulated by the IF.  A lower number indicates a more severe activity limitation.
• PTVI 1-3: athletes with vision impairment, subdivided in three classes by severity of vision loss (visual acuity and/or visual field). A lower number indicates a more severe activity limitation.
• PTS2: ambulant (able to walk) athletes who swim, bike on a conventional bike with or without approved adaptations, and run with or without the use of an approved prosthesis and/or supportive devices. Athletes with impairment of muscle power, range of movement, limb deficiency, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis. Health conditions include severe cerebral palsy, congenital hemiplegia, above the knee amputation, etc. On both the bike and run segments, amputee athletes may use approved prosthesis or other supportive devices.
• PTS3 [men only in Paris]: ambulant (able to walk) athletes with a significant degree of activity limitation resulting from impairments of, but not limited to, limb deficiency, hypertonia, ataxia and or athetosis, impaired muscle power or range of movement. Health conditions include athletes with significant spastic hemiplegia, cerebral palsy, double below knee amputation, combined affected upper and lower limbs, etc. On both the bike and run segments, amputee athletes may use approved prosthesis or other supportive devices.
• PTS4: ambulant (able to walk) athletes with a moderate degree of activity limitation resulting from impairments of, but not limited to, limb deficiency, hypertonia, ataxia and or athetosis, impaired muscle power or range of movement. Health conditions include a moderate spastic cerebral palsy, complete brachial-plexus on one arm, through the shoulder amputation, unilateral below the knee amputation, etc. On both the bike and run segments, amputee athletes may use approved prosthesis or other supportive devices.
• PTS5: ambulant (able to walk) athletes with a mild degree of activity limitation such as athletes with, but not limited to, a below the elbow arm amputation, partial loss of arm muscle power, lower limb deficiency, etc. Health conditions include athletes with below the elbow dysmelia, clubfoot, through the wrist amputation, partial brachial-plexus on one arm, through the ankle amputation, etc. In both bike and run segments, amputee athletes may use approved prosthesis or other supportive devices.
• PTVI: visually impaired athletes with impaired muscle power, athetosis, impaired passive range of movement, hypertonia, limb deficiency, ataxia, vision impairment. Athletes must swim, ride a tandem cycle, and run with the same guide throughout the entire race. They have a loss of visual acuity and/or visual field including PTVI3 (visual acuity ranging from LogMAR 1.40 to 1 (inclusive) and/or visual field constricted to a diameter of less than 40°), PTVI2 (visual acuity ranging from LogMAR 1.50 to 2.60 (inclusive) and/or visual field constricted to a diameter of less than 10°), and PTVI1 (no light perception. Visual acuity poorer than LogMAR 2.60) with an interval start versus classes PTVI2/3 competing for the same medal (PTVI Medal Event).

Para Triathlon History

The inaugural Para Triathlon event was held in Copacabana Beach and the streets of Rio de Janeiro at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games where 60 athletes from 18 countries competed in 6 events. Jetze Plat (PT1), Andrew Lewis (PT2), Martin Schulz (PT4), Allysa Seely (PT2), Grace Norman (PT4), and Katie Kelly (PT5) were the gold medalists in their respective classes in Rio de Janeiro.

The second Para Triathlon event was held in Tokyo Bay and the streets of Tokyo at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games where 80 athletes from 19 countries competed in 8 events. Jetze Plat (PTWC, shown above), Bradley Snyder (PTV1), Alexis Hanquinquant (PTS4), Martin Schulz (PTS5), Allysa Seely (PT2), Kendall Gretsch (PTWC, shown above), Susana Rodriguez Gacio (PTV1), and Lauren Steadman (PTS5) were the gold medalists in their respective classes in Tokyo.

Swim Segment at the Paris Paralympics

The 750m swim course will be exactly where the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim course was held (see below), so the para triathletes will have to face similar fast-moving currents as the able-bodied marathon swimmers did on August 8th and 9th.

However, reports state that the river flow speed is trending downwards (slower) with sunny skies predicted from August 25th to September 2nd. The last rain predicted is on August 24th with the race days on September 1st and 2nd.

The start and finish of the para triathlon swim leg will be on Pont Alexandre III, the beautiful 107-meter bridge between the Seine’s two banks in central Paris, connecting the neighbourhoods of the Champs-Elysees and the Invalides.

The individual triathlon distances at the Olympics was 1.5 km swim + 40 km bike + 10 km run. The individual para triathlon distances at the Paralympics is 750m swim + 20 km para-bike + 5 km run.

The para triathletes will race near the Pont Alexandre III bridge, Les Invalides bridge, Le Grand Palais, Le Petit Palais, l’Assemblée nationale, Le Musée d’Orsay, Avenue des Champs-Elysées (with the Arc de Triomphe within their sights), Avenue Montaigne, Quai d’Orsay, Quai Anatole France, and Boulevard Saint-Germain.

Most of the 120 slots in Para triathlon were allocated based on the 12-month World Triathlon Paralympic Qualification Rankings as of July 1st 2024.

Para Marathon Swimming

Thinking out loud, it would be wonderful if the International Paralympic Committee added a 5 km or 10 km marathon swimming race to the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics or 2032 Brisbane Paralympics. From all our years in the sport, we know there are very capable athletes who would gladly compete and represent their country well.

In para swimming, a total of 595 quota slots are made available to the most qualified swimmers in the world. Many of these athletes, we believe, would and could add a 5 km or 10 km marathon swim to their schedule – and make for a competitive race.

There is a well-known precedent for this opportunity.

Natalie du Toit

Natalie du Toit is a South African para swimmer (amputee) who qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympic 10 km marathon swim and finished 16th in the 4-loop Olympic rowing basin course. She qualified for the 2008 Olympics when she placed 4th at the 2008 World Open Water Swimming Championships in Sevilla, Spain. She was the first athlete to carry her country’s flag at both the Olympics and Paralympics opening ceremony in a single year.

Listen to her profound words and experiences in Beijing below, including her view of life as a tumble turn. 2024 US Paralympic coach and 2008 Olympic swim coach John Dussliere saw du Toit compete in Beijing. He reminds us of an important fact, “Para athletes deal with a level of adversity in everyday life so they are ready for whatever conditions and courses are offered.”

2008 Beijing Olympic 10K Marathon Swim Results

Gold: Larisa Ilchenko (Russia) 1:59:27.7
Silver: Keri-Anne Payne (Great Britain) 1:59:29.2
Bronze: Cassandra Patten (Great Britain) 1:59:31.0
4. Angela Maurer (Germany) 1:59:31.9
5. Ana Marcela Cunha (Brazil) 1:59:36.8
6. Swann Oberson (Switzerland) 1:59:36.9
7. Poliana Okimoto (Brazil) 1:59:37.4
8. Jana Pechanová (Czech Republic) 1:59:39.7
9. Andreína del Valle Pinto Pérez (Venezuela) 1:59:40.0
10. Martina Grimaldi (Italy) 1:59:42.3
11. Marianna Lymperta (Greece) 1:59:42.3
12. Teja Zupan (Slovenia) 1:59:43.7
13. Yurema Requena (Spain) 1:59:46.9
14. Edith van Dijk (Netherlands) 2:00:02.8
15. Melissa Gorman (Australia) 2:00:33.6
16. Natalie du Toit South Africa 2:00:49.9
17. Daniela Inácio (Portugal) 2:00:59.0
18. Eva Berglund (Sweden) 2:01:05.0
19. Fang Yanqiao (China) 2:01:07.9
20. Imelda Martínez (Mexico) 2:01:07.9
21. Aurelie Muller (France) 2:02:04.1
22. Chloe Sutton (United States) 2:02:13.6
23. Natalya Samorodina (Ukraine) 2:10:41.6
24. Antonella Bogarin (Argentina) 2:11:35.9
DNF Kristel Köbrich (Chile)

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