Derry Twins Complete Their Triathlon Event- Paralympics 2024

Chloe and Judith MacCombe, the Derry twins, finished their triathlon event race with triumph, placing sixth and eighth, respectively.

Cassie Cava earned 12th position in the Paralympic Games 2024 despite being injured from a fall at the start line. It led her to require attention for a prosthetic leg while she was on the run.

(Also read: First Ireland Squad under Heimir Hallgrimsson includes Coleman, Ferguson, and McAteer)

The 11 triathlon races on Sunday were postponed due to the River Seine’s water quality. At present, they got a green signal this morning for the events to be conducted as per schedule.

The 29-year-old Derry twins suffer from a form of albinism that affects their clarity of vision. They both were able to earn their rightfully granted spots in triathlon events.

Judith MacCombe’s participation was not confirmed as she suffered from illness while in the camp. However, the postponement of the events gave her an extra day to boost up her health energies and get ready to stand at the start line.

Chloe, who stands third in the world ranking, along with her guide Catherine Sands came out of the waters with ninth position. Before Judith and her guide, Eimear Nicholls, it was seventeen seconds earlier.

Only ten seconds apart from each other in the early stage, both twins moved up the five laps of the course smoothly.

However, Chloe had to face a penalty of 10 seconds during the transition 2. The reason was her placement of equipment outside the box before the start of her race. Still, she managed to gain 5 km in sixth place with a time run of 1:10:32.

Her sister was two places behind her with 1:11:17.

Chloe, one of the winning Derry twins, said…

Chloe told the media, “We did the best we could. We went out there to cross the line knowing that we had done everything and left everything out there. That’s what we did”.

Chloe further added about her sister’s health condition. She said that her sister hadn’t been feeling well for the past few days and it was a struggle for her to stand at the start line. She cited that it was extremely exceptional to see her perform so well as she had been pushing herself really hard and well.

Chloe was amazed that it was a sight to behold and see that her sister was at her “physical peak” because the outcome that she was able to show the world was wonderful.

She explained that there is always a doubt about “what if” and that is when a person goes out to give his best. “Anything can happen on race day”, she remarked.

She knew that it was fate that they were where they are today because it could have been anyone else who was sick and anyone else who could have taken those positions other than the Derry twins.

On the other hand, the former Great Britain athlete, Cava, struggled to take the lead. After a few minutes, she could not bear with her the pain caused by her prosthetic leg and decided to take it off during the race. She came 12th in a time of 1:37:29.