Schultz and Daniel Duel Again at Paratriathlon Championship Series Hamburg
In the world of Paratriathlon racing the rivalry between Germany’s Martin Schulz and Canada’s Stefan Daniel is one of the sport’s most enduring. Schulz took the gold medal ahead of Daniel’s silver at the 2016 Games, the first time that triathlon appeared at the Paralympics, turning the tables after Daniel had won the world championship the previous year. Daniel would then go on a string of world championship wins, taking the title in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The Tokyo Games saw Schulz successfully defend his gold medal, with Daniel having to settle for bronze with Britain’s George Peasgood taking silver.
Daniel would take gold at the worlds in 2022 in Abu Dhabi, and was in the lead at the 2024 Paris Games when he crashed into a barricade during the bike and was never able to get back in medal contention. At those Games American Chris Hammer would take gold ahead of Brazil’s Ronan Cordeiro, with Schulz taking Bronze. Daniel would take the world title later that year.
On Sunday Hamburg hosted its first World Paratriathlon Championship Series event, a dress rehearsal race for next year’s world championships. The much anticipated PTS5 category would once again see a duel between Schultz and Daniel, with Hammer also in the mix.
In the end it was Schulz who would lead Daniel off the bike, then hold off the Canadian on the run to take the win.
“To win this race, especially for me, this, this season hasn’t been the best for me – I haven’t had much luck. So I’m super happy and this will give me some big points for the world ranking,” Schulz said after the race. “And so does this sort of begin a long, uh, sort of stretch leading up to the LA games? Yeah, of course. “The main focus is on LA. It’s only two more years. Next year is a big milestone, with the world championships here in Hamburg. The full focus is on LA. I’m not getting any younger, And I hope I can see Stefan in Los Angeles, and maybe we can share the podium together.”
Here are a few more photo highlights from the day’s racing – full results are available here:
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Great pics and stories!!! Just this afternoon I was swimming next to a girl who is a paratriathlete. She just got back from a race in Chile, is going to Hungary in another week or so, then France, Spain, etc. She’s trying to get enough points for the WC in Spain this fall. This circuit is more or less a duplicate of the pro ITU series. Sounds pretty cool!!!