The British Triathlon team taking to the course of the Paratriathlon event at the Grand Final in Lausanne secured seven medals including three golds.
Claire Cashmore (PTS5) won the first gold medal for the team after taking on team-mate Lauren Steadman.
The Loughborough-based athlete didn’t have the best swim but fought hard on the bike leg to catch the reigning world champion, Steadman.
As the race entered the run leg, the Brits were running side-by-side until Cashmore made a break for the finish line and sprinted ahead of Steadman.
Cashmore took the tape ahead of Steadman and said: “World Champion sounds absolutely incredible to me. I still can’t quite believe it. My swim was awful and I got blown out the back and to be honest I didn’t think I had it in me and was beating myself up about it. On the bike I just kept catching and I managed to catch Lauren. We went out onto the run together the whole way. It came to the final bit and I got my sprinting legs on and got to the finish.
“My bike has improved so much over the last few years and to be able to get a good bike split was what I wanted today. What better way to do it than at the World Championships and to come here and win is amazing.”
Steadman added: “I over the moon and to have come within seconds of a World title after the year I’ve had is great. I’m so proud of Claire too. She’s had a fantastic year and the progression she has made is fantastic. She pushes me all the way and it’s nice to see competitiveness within the class.”
In the PTS4 category, Hannah Moore took the second gold medal for the British team after putting in an impressive display throughout the race.
Moore dominated the race and was in command from the swim leg and was time trialling through the bike leg.
Moore took the tape with a fantastic finish and commented: “It was really tough out there today. The course is brutal to be honest. I hadn’t been feeling great, but I am so happy to have been able to get that win after that is fantastic. It’s down to the people around me. For me it’s been great to have the combined start for the three categories. My family is here too and that’s so great that they could see me win.”
The final medal won by the British team was gold for Fran Brown in the PTS2 category and it was another dominate display by the British team.
Brown, who favours hills, enjoyed the bike leg and showcased her strength to get into the lead.
She continued to demonstrate her skill by taking the tape and said: “It wasn’t an easy race, but I enjoyed it. The support around the course was fantastic and it was brilliant to feel supported. It was different course for us but you can’t not be inspired by the location. The swim was great, and it was so nice to swim in the lake. I really enjoy the hills and the run was challenging but I enjoyed it. I was relaxed coming in to this and I think that really helped.”
The first medal of the day was won by Dave Ellis and his guide Mark Buckingham who took silver in the PTVI category.
Ellis and Buckingham were in a strong position before a mechanical problem with the bike meant they fell down the rankings.
They left T2 in seventh place before fighting back on the run leg to take silver.
Paralympic bronze medallist Melissa Reid and her guide Nikki Bartlett took silver in the PTVI category after putting in a good performance throughout the race.
Reid and Bartlett won the silver medal two seconds behind the winner.
Paralympic Champion Andy Lewis secured silver in the PTS2 category after an excellent start to the race.
Lewis looked in a comfortable position in the bike leg and ran a strong final leg to get the second step on the podium.
