US women show their force on Paralympic triathlon podium

PARIS – The U.S. women’s para triathlon team completed a three-peat three times over when Hailey Danz and Grace Norman took home gold Monday, and Allysa Seely finished third for bronze. All three women have podium finishes in each of the last three Paralympic Games.

The triumph was something Norman said made the win especially meaningful.

“To have the women in the U.S. be so dominant, is really fun to be around,” she said. “The training in Vichy (France, where the team practiced in the lead-up to the Games) was awesome and it really set me up for success here.”

Hailey and Seely finished one and three in the PTS2 classification, which is for athletes with a severe degree of activity limitation. Triathlon classifications range from 1 to 5, which 1 being the most severe impairment.

Kendall Gretsch, who holds a rare distinction of having competed and medaled both at summer and winter Paralympic Games, added to the USA’s dominance in the women’s races, winning silver in the PTWC2 classification (for athletes who use wheelchairs and have lower limb disabilities). It was her second medal, adding to her gold from Tokyo.

The men showed up in force, too. Chris Hammer from Elkins, West Virginia, captured gold in the PTS5 classification. He credited moving to a more professionally-focused training regiment after finishing in fourth place back-to-back in Rio in 2016 and Tokyo, held in 2021 due to the pandemic.

In particular, he spent part of this summer training at nearly 7,000 feet in Park City, Utah.

“I had never done altitude work like that before,” he said. “It was hard, I never felt confident, but my coach said this will work − and it did.”

Carson Clough of Charlotte, North Carolina, spent time with Hammer and it showed. Clough, who races in the PTS4  classification, finished second to win his first Paralympic medal.

Mohamed Lahna from Hayward, California, (PTS2 classification) won his second para triathlon medal and first as a U.S. citizen with a silver. Mark Barr (PTS2) joined Lahna on the podium with his third-place finish.

Clough said that the U.S. team showed its dedication on Monday.

“USA Triathlon put their money where their mouth is,” he said of the support the team has received. “They  let us do our thing and taught us what we needed to know.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US women show their force on Paralympic triathlon podium