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Expected to be a major nation in the discipline, the French team, led by Alexis Hanquinquant who was still in gold, won four medals on Monday, September 2. Only the men managed to make it onto the podium.
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On Monday, August 26, during the traditional paratriathlon “media day,” we were promised the moon. Between the “I’m ready”, “I can’t wait to get started”, “the preparation went well” and other classics thrown by paratriathletes, the national technical director of the discipline, Benjamin Maze, announced: “The level of the French has gone up a notch since Tokyo. We have very big ambitions in Paris.” All this is confirmed by figures: the Blues returned from the last world championships in Pontevedra in Spain in 2023 with eight medals.
So this Monday, September 2, we set up along the finish line of the Pont Alexandre-III, determined to see a parade of blue-white-red paratriathletes among the first to arrive on the blue carpet in front of the dome of the Invalides. Very quickly, we made an initial observation: to follow the race, it’s a bit of a mess. With the grouping of events on the same day, it’s happening everywhere, some categories are running at the same time, we no longer really know who is overtaking who, who is in front, who is in difficulty and, despite the magnificent setting before our eyes (Seine straight ahead, Eiffel Tower rising up on the left, and
