George Peasgood and Andy Lewis won gold medals at the ITU World Paratriathlon Event in Penrith, Australia. Joe Townsend and Clare Cunningham won silver.

Starting their seasons after a long block of winter training, the team of four British paratriathletes were impressive winning two gold and two silver medals and collecting valuable ranking points that will help qualify slots for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Unfortunately, Lauren Steadman was unable to start due to illness.

Peasgood used his swim and bike strength to set up a big lead, which he held on to during the run. He won the PT4 event by a comfortable margin of well over a minute from Alexander Yalchik of Russia.

Andy Lewis won an emphatic winner of the PT2 event. The through-the-knee amputee was the fastest swimmer, cyclist and runner on the day.

Joe Townsend finished second behind five-time ITU world champion, Bill Chaffey of Australia in the PT1 event. Afghanistan veteran, Townsend was the fastest over the bike and run sections, but Chaffey’s superior swim set up his victory.

Clare Cunningham was second in the PT4 women’s event. After a strong start, she lost time on the bike but ran well to secure silver.

The next round of the ITU World Paratriathlon Event Series will coincide with the ITU World Triathlon Series event in Yokohama, 14-15 May.

Selected results: Penrith ITU World Paratriathlon Event:
Sunday 24 April: 750m swim, 20km run, 5k run:

PT1 Men

1. Bill Chaffey, AUS, 58:53
2. Joseph Townsend, GBR, 1:00:43
3. Benjamin Lenatz, GER, 1:08:11

PT2 Men

1. Andrew Lewis, GBR, 1:10:47
2. Brant Garvey, AUS, 1:14:08
3. Lionel Morales, ESP, 1:14:54

PT4 Men

1. George Peasgood, GBR, 1:02:33
2. Alexander Yalchik, RUS, 1:03:56
3. Carlos Rafael Viana, BRA, 1:04:29

PT4 Women

1. Kate Doughty, AUS, 1:12:10
2. Clare Cunningham, GBR, 1:14:21
3. Claire Mclean, AUS, 1:15:47