Australia’s finest paratriathletes and emerging triathlon stars rubbed shoulders at Robina over the weekend knowing that all roads will lead to the Gold Coast over the next two years.
Rio paratriathlon gold medallist Katie Kelly and guide, triathlon legend Michelle Jones, along with their Paralympic team mates Bill Chaffey and Nic Beveridge were all back in their saddles today.
Kelly and Jones combined for the first time since their magical moment when they raced to the Rio gold on September 12 last year.
They were solid in the swim and then went up a level on the tandem bike, showing the crowd the kind of skill and power that saw them etch their names into Paralympic history.
But that was the end of the road for Kelly who decided not to risk a niggling calf injury in her comeback race with the up-coming Oceania and World Paratriathlon race on the Gold Coast in April high on her 2017 goals.
She left it to ITU and Ironman world champion, 2000 Olympic silver medallist to continue the 2.5km run by herself. Katie had this to say;
“It was not worth the risk, I have this niggling calf injury and I thought it was better to withdraw - we have some bigger fish to fry later in the year and I want to make sure I am 100 percent. But to put our recent training block into race practice while Michellie is in Australia, especially on the bike, was certainly worthwhile. Michelle will be back from the US again in April and we want to give the WPE a red hot go.”
To read the full story on Triathlon Australia's website, please click below.
Image courtesy of Australian Paralympic Committee
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