On day five of competition, in the Para Triathlon, Team Ireland athletes put on an impressive display with sisters Chloe and Judith MacCombe, along with their guides Catherine Sands and Eimear Nicholls coming in sixth and eighth place respectively.
Chloe MacCombe guided by Catherine Sands put in a determined performance to secure 6th place in the PTVI Para Triathlon at their debut Paralympic Games. Exiting the water in 9th place, the pair put in a strong fight on the bike course to strengthen their position going into the final determining run, producing the 4th fastest bike leg.
Chloe shared her sentiments on the on the bike course, “Absolutely, nailed it. I mean, too much that I was absolutely busted going into the run but the legs came back. If you get to the Paralympics you have to just give it everything - and that's what we did.” An equipment penalty in Transition 2 cost the pair 10 seconds.
Chloe finished 4th in the run, posting a run split just 52 seconds behind World Champion Tarantello who claimed 3rd overall. Chloe MacCombe & guide Catherine Sands finished with an overall time of 1:08:12, 2 minutes and 13 seconds away from a podium finish.
Ranked 3rd in the world, Chloe MacCombe was in the chase for the podium at her debut Paralympic Games. “You always have your eyes on the podium but ultimately we just wanted to go out and just give it everything. Control the controllable, just cross the line knowing you gave everything and that's what we did so.”
Judith MacCombe and guide Eimear Nicholls claimed 8th place in the same PTVI Para Triathlon finishing 45 seconds behind Chloe & guide Catherine, with an overall time of 01:08:44 at their debut Paralympic Games.
After exiting the water in tenth place, the ambitious duo worked to claw back time, producing the second fastest bike split of the race, clocking a faster time than two time Paralympic Champion Rodriguez & three seconds behind World Champion Anja Renner, who produced the fastest cycle.
Speaking on her overall performance Judith talked about the challenging few days leading up to the race. “I feel below par. I've been sick for the past few days. Even getting on the start line today was incredible. If the race had been yesterday, I wouldn't have even gotten the chance to start. So even just to be on the start line today was just incredible. You've never seen someone happier about a race being postponed.”
Guide Eimear Nicholls added “I’m just so proud of Judith after what she’s been through over the past two days. We had been delayed by at least one day. Two days and we may have been even better, but one day at least got us on the start line. And Judith gave it her all. She was not herself on the run. Her run is the strength, and she would usually run at least a minute quicker than that.”
The pair only started working together over a year ago and have put in an outstanding performance throughout the season to secure qualification. Looking ahead, Eimear spoke of their ambitions, “We’re definitely looking forward to the rest of the season. We've got two more races coming up. And then beyond that, we'll definitely be gunning for LA.”
Talking about her sister, Chloe said, “Sibling rivalry is a real motivator - it's great. We knew that we were going to be proud of each other no matter where we finished and who ever finished first. We were going to celebrate each other's victories.”
When asked about the rest of the MacCombe family & how they feel about the pair both competing against each other, Chloe added, “It’s pretty special - I’m sure it was stressful as well. They’re probably worried about us falling out with each other afterwards and having to deal but I'm sure they're buzzing. It's amazing having the two of us at home and our families can actually come and watch us race because we're travelling all over the world to qualify and you never have anybody in the crowd. It was just so special - everyone's chanting your name and just when we were running, we nearly couldn't hear each other. It was just like goosebumps - the Irish support was amazing.”
Competing in the PTS4 Para Triathlon was Cassie Cava who placed twelfth with a time of 1:37:29. She started strong coming in sixth in her swim leg with an impressive time of 00:14:22 and remained steady in twelfth place in both her bike and run legs.
Speaking directly after the race, Cassie Cava said: “I’ve got real mixed emotions, that was tough, I don’t think I’ve ever been in so much pain. I slipped on the stairs on the way to the start, I just got up and carried on with adrenaline. I got onto the bike and was in so much pain, every lap I thought ‘I can’t, I’ve got to stop’, I just pushed through, it was so painful, it was the toughest race ever pain wise.”
Cava added: “I didn’t come here to quit, I just got around trying to get to the finish and I’m really glad that I did. It’s not what I came here to do, I came here to race better so I’m a little disappointed.”
Shauna Bocquet was in action on the track in the Women’s T54 1500m heat. Her brave display, coming in sixth, unfortunately wasn’t enough to qualify for the final.
She said, "The race was very tactical but I expected that, I tried to stay on the outside and not get boxed in. It was a very tight pack and I just couldn't get around them (the other racers). In the end, it came down to the last 100m and the better athletes got over the line before me, I just couldn't catch them. I'm looking forward to the next race now."
A positive Shauna will rest tomorrow before returning to the track at the Stade de France for her third and final race of these Games (Her Paralympic debut). The Women's 100m - T54 heat is on Sept 4th at 11am (Irish time) with the final, qualification dependent, taking place that same evening at 7.30pm.
