I asked Clare Cunningham, 2009 World Champion Paratriathlete (TRI4 classification, or arm impairment), if she would be willing to share her thoughts on the Paratriathlon Paralympic decision. Clare kindly has contributed this guest post.
I met Clare only briefly on the British Triathlon Federation Paratriathlon Open Day in late 2010. But I think I have seen her zipping by in the fast lane at one of the pools I train in. A gold medal winner in the Barcelona Paralympic games for the 50m freestyle (swim), Clare did her first triathlon in 2006. In addition to winning the World Championships in 2009 (photo below), Clare has also been nominated for 2010 British Paratriathlete of the year by 220 magazine.
Clare’s Thoughts
The big news that paratriathletes around the world had been waiting for was announced on Saturday 11 December – paratriathlon will be included in the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016. The Paralympics is the pinnacle of disability sport. To become Paralympic champion is the dream for many athletes with a disability in the same way becoming Olympic Champion is the ultimate goal for able-bodied athletes. I consider the Paralympic Gold Medal I won as a swimmer in Barcelona 1992 to be the greatest achievement of my life. Now that paratriathlon is to be included in the Paralympic programme from 2016 can only be positive for the sport.
We were originally told that the International Triathlon Union (ITU) would be told at 8am GMT and would in turn inform athletes through the facebook site, Paratriathlon for Paralympics, shortly after. I don’t know how many athletes around the world were sat refreshing the Facebook page waiting for the decision. I was and while the wait on the announcement was tense, it was fantastic to hear the news about an hour later. A lot of work has gone into making this happen and so a huge thank you must go to the ITU, British Triathlon Federation and other National Federations around the world for all their hard work to get paratriathlon into the Paralympics.
So, what next? This really is just the start. I hope, like many athletes, that participation in the sport will increase and with it produce a higher standard of competition. There are signs already that this will happen. Paratriathlon has grown unbelievably in the last year and 27 nations have already promised to send a team of paratriathletes to the World Championships in Beijing 2011, which should make it the most competitive World Championships to date. In the UK, the Paratriathlon Performance Squad will change from 2011 to replicate the model used by the elite athletes, with a Podium squad and an Affiliate squad. With funding from GE, the Podium squad will be given greater support than ever before to help ensure those athletes selected have the best opportunity for medal success at the European and World Championships in 2011, the first stepping stones to 2016.
There will undoubtedly be many changes to Paratriathlon in the next eighteen months, before London 2012 and before the next four year Paralympic cycle begins. There have already been indications that the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) will recommend changes to the current classification system. We will learn how the ITU intends to structure international competitions to enable Paralympic selection. With only places for 75 men and 75 women across six classifications and all countries how will these places be divided?
One thing is certain; it is an exciting time for paratriathlon and all those involved and I am ready for the challenge.
Special thanks to Clare for contributing this post. The next post in the series of four will be from Darren Smith, a member of the Canadian National Paratriathlon Squad where Darren will share his experiences with classification.