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Lauren Parker has chalked up an extraordinary 11th consecutive victory at the World Triathlon Para Series Montreal, giving her a flying start to Paris Paralympic qualification.
The 34-year-old led the Aussie charge in which fellow Tokyo 2020 representative Nic Beveridge finished with a silver medal and Justin Godfrey started his qualifying campaign with bronze.
In another impressive performance, the unflappable Parker (1:03.32) raced away to beat Tokyo gold medallist Kendall Gretsch (1:06.11) with Brazil’s Jessica Ferreira taking bronze in 1:06.31.
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Parker said she was “happy and relieved” to win and capture top points towards her Paris qualification.
“I definitely had a great race and I’m glad I got the win with such an impressive field and a great start to my Paris Paralympic campaign,” she said.
“It always makes it all the more satisfying to know I’ve been able to beat the best athletes in the world in my category and to get my 11th consecutive win.
“My plan was to put pressure on the rest of the field and I’m pretty sure I did that out there today.”
Parker started with a good lead out of the one-lap swim.
“I remember seeing where the rest of the field was at the end of the swim and they weren’t far behind so I knew I really had to get a good transition and get out on the bike course as fast as I could,” she said.
“I had high expectations of myself on the bike because that’s where I normally increase my lead and I’ve done a lot of work on the bike recently and changed my set up which has helped me become a stronger athlete than last year.
“I felt great out there on the bike and it was a fast course, for sure.
“I stuck to my plan and kept increasing my lead so that I’d get a good start on the run which I was really happy with. I’ve been working hard at it and changed a lot with my technique to be more powerful and efficient and it’s slowly paying off.”
Back to back wins for @_laurenparker_ at the Montreal World Paratri Series race. 11th straight win in all races. Perfect start to the @Paris2024 qualification campaign ✅
— Dave Robertson (@mrdaverobbo) July 9, 2023
// @danat75 @TriAustralia @worldtriathlon @AUSParalympics pic.twitter.com/3b6mGQVfL4
Two-time Paralympian Beveridge also kick-started his qualification period with a solid race. He and Japan’s Kimura Jumpei got away in the swim ahead of USA’s Howie Sanborn.
Beveridge and Jumpei were very close coming onto the bike but couldn’t hold off Sanborn, who went past them both into the lead.
“Nic dug in for the run which he is strong at and had the quickest run time to get back up to and pass Jumpei to take a convincing silver,” Triathlon Australia’s Paralympic Performance Manager Kyle Burns said.
Godfrey’s PTS3 class was a race in three.
“The swim is still a work in progress for Justin,” Burns said.
“But it was a solid all-round performance that showed progress in the right direction for him.”
The Australians will compete at the WTPS Swansea race in Wales this weekend.
TEAM AUS | WTPS MONTREAL RESULTS
Nic Beveridge (PTWC) – 2nd
Glen Jarvis (PTS2) – 7th
Justin Godfrey (PTS3)- 3rd
Jeremy Peacock (PTS4) – 7th
Liam Twomey (PTS4) – 11th
David Bryant (PTS5) – 5th
Jack Howell (PTS5) – 6th
Sam Harding (PTVI) – 5th
Lauren Parker (PTWC) – 1st
Grace Brimelow (PTS2) – DSQ
Caroline Baird (PTVI) – 7th
Join AUS Squad: the official cheer squad of the Australian Paralympic Team
By: Triathlon Australia and Paralympics Australia
Posted: 10 July 2023
Image: World Triathlon
