Steadman and Brown headline British success at paratriathlon Euros

Lauren Steadman and Fran Brown both won gold as British paratriathletes took home six medals from the Paratriathlon European Championships in Valencia.

Steadman had finished as runner-up to team-mate Claire Cashmore in the ITU World Paratriathlon Series Grand Final earlier this month but the positions were reversed in the PTS5 women’s race a fortnight on in Spain.

Paralympic silver medallist Steadman and Cashmore were ahead of the rest of the field at the end of the bike phase before the 26-year-old pulled away during the run to cross the line one minute And 46 seconds ahead of her fellow Brit.

In the PTS2 women’s race, Brown took the lead during the swim and maintained that advantage all the way to the line – pushing Finland’s Liisa Lilja and Italy’s Veronica Yoko Plebani into silver and bronze respectively.

Melissa Reid won silver in the PTVI women’s event as Susan Rodriguez of Spain took gold, while GB’s only male medallist – Andrew Lewis – also claimed silver in the men’s PTS2 as a brilliant run wasn’t quite enough to overhaul France’s Jules Ribstein for the European title.

And in the women’s PTWC race, Jade Hall earned Britain’s final podium place as she sealed a bronze medal.