Claire Cashmore admitted to relief at winning silver, as she had a less-than-ideal build-up to the Paris 2024 Para triathlon. 

The Redditch native has battled injury over the last couple of years having to reduce her training load to compensate. 

And then out in Paris, a postponement hampered preparations with the 36-year-old also experiencing her brakes failing on her bike recce. 

“It was hard, it was quite a relief to get off the bike,” said Cashmore, who is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support – which has been vital on their pathway to the Paris 2024 Games. 

“I had a bit of a nightmare in the recce, my brakes fell off, so I went in a bit panicky on the bike, but it was brilliant.  

“To win silver is such a relief, I felt quite a lot of pressure coming in.  

“With the delays, it has been all about being adaptable and preparing for whatever is going to happen.  

“It was incredible to see my family and friends out there, I just smiled the whole way.” 

Cashmore finished second behind the USA’s Grace Norman, who pulled away on the run to reclaim her gold medal won in Rio. 

The defending champion and Cashmore’s compatriot, Lauren Steadman won bronze as the pair contributed to five medals won by ParalympicsGB on a bumper day of triathlon. 

All 11 triathlon races were held on the same day after water quality issues forced the postponement of Sunday’s races. 

It meant that Cashmore set off while her long-term boyfriend Dave Ellis was still out competing. 

Former swimmer Cashmore had admitted after Tokyo that Ellis’ DNF due to a bike mechanical issue had affected her own race the next day as she had to settle for bronze. 

But there was double delight for the pair as Cashmore was told of Ellis’ redemptive gold medal as she celebrated silver. 

She added: “Dave is the most determined, hardworking person I’ve ever met.  

“Finally, he’s got what he deserves, especially after Tokyo.  

“I felt so stressed not being able to watch him, it’s a shame I couldn’t watch and enjoy that moment, but I’m so pleased he got his moment. 

“I can’t tell you how resilient he is. He’s won Worlds, Commonwealth and everything since.

The work he does every day is inspiring and he deserves everything he gets.  

“He’s a man of few words, we are polar opposites in that respect. 

“He was off the bike when I was about to go in, so I had to block it out. You have to be selfish on raceday. I heard he had an amazing swim, that was the last thing I heard.”

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