More medal events announced for Paris 2024 Paralympic Games

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced that the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will feature 11 medal events for paratriathlon, and has also confirmed an athlete quota of 120 – 3 more events and 40 more athletes than the previous Games hosted in Tokyo.

For Paris 2024, the paratri classifications* will feature as below:

MEN WOMEN

PTWC PTWC

PTS2 PTS2

PTS3 PTS4

PTS4 PTS5

PTS5 PTVI

PTVI

*The new additions are in bold.

• Paratriathlon: the ultimate guide

In total, the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will feature a maximum of 4,400 Para athletes who will compete in 549 medal events across 22 Para sports.

The Games will include a record 235 medal events for women, eight more than at Tokyo 2020. This number also represents a 28% increase on the 183 medal events for female athletes at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games.

British Paralympic paratri success

Paratriathlon made its debut at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games with just six events, which saw the British team come home with four medals including gold for Andy Lewis.

The sport returned to Tokyo 2020 with eight categories, which included the women’s PTS5 with Lauren Steadman going head-to-head with compatriot Claire Cashmore. The team returned with gold for Steadman, bronze for Cashmore and silver for George Peasgood (PTS5).

British Triathlon head of Paralympic programme, Jonathon Riall, said: “We are thrilled to see that the sport has continued to move forwards year after year and to have so many classifications included in the third Games is excellent for the sport. I have been head coach of the programme since its inclusion in the Paralympics and I’m proud to see how this exciting sport has developed and I know it will continue to push forwards in the future.

“For our progamme, it’s an exciting time as we have the opportunity to bring through athletes that previously haven’t had the chance of competing on the biggest stage for our sport. We now have two years to identify new athletes and follow their progress as they target being at their best in Paris in 2024.”

Double the number of female para athletes

Andrew Parsons, IPC President, said: “For the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games we are increasing the number of competition opportunities for women and athletes with high support needs, fulfilling two ambitions of the Paralympic Movement.

“To almost double the number of women taking part in the Paralympic Games in less than 25 years is rapid progress but the fact we do not yet have gender parity underlines that there is still much work to do.

“In addition to providing more opportunities for athletes with high support needs across three sports, Paris 2024 will also have a uniform look to all team sports with eight teams participating in each competition. This helps improve efficiencies for the organisers, drives greater gender parity and increases competition opportunities for athletes in other sports.

“Huge credit needs to go to all international federations who are part of the Paris 2024 Paralympic programme. All have made great progress in recent years and piecing together the final medal events programme and quotas was a complex exercise.

“With the medal events programme and athlete quotas now announced, National Paralympic Committees and athletes can start their preparations in earnest for what will be spectacular Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.”

Top image: © Delly Carr | World Triathlon