Top-ranked Martin Schulz added another gold medal to his collection, winning the men’s PT4 category at the Madrid International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Paratriathlon Event in Madrid, Spain on Sunday (17 May).

In his first ITU event of the year, the German, who entered the weekend with eight international gold medals and a silver, completed the course in 1:07.39 to take the win. France’s Yannik Bourseaux (1:10.44), a winner at March’s Buffalo City ITU World Paratriathlon event in South Africa was second with Russia’s Alexander Yalchik (1:12.06) third.

Last year’s PT1 winner Jetze Plat of the Netherlands had no trouble defending his prize, finishing in 1:08.36, followed by Australia’s Bill Chaffey (1:15.33). Italy’s Giovanni Achenza (1:20.48) was third.

Russia’s Vasily Egorov (1:21.12) claimed the top prize in the men’s PT2 division, Spain’s home favourite Daniel Molina (1:21.54) the men’s PT3, and Slovenia’s Alen Kobilica (1:16.54) carried over his win in Buffalo City to grab gold in the men’s PT5.

On the women’s side, France’s Elise Marc got her break after disappointing results in the 2014 season, when she was disqualified in last June’s European Championships in Kitzbuehel, Austria and the French Paratriathlon National Championships. Marc won her division in 1:43.35, about 10 minutes ahead of Saskia Van Den Ouden. Spain’s Rakel Mateo (1:55.06) finished third.

Strong performance in the swimming and biking segments helped Spain’s Susana Rodriguez (1:23.12) pull out a tight win in the PT5 division, edging the Netherlands’ Joleen Hakker by 20 seconds.

France’s Gwladys Lemoussu (1:29.34) won the PT4, Germany’s Nora Hansel (1:48.23) the PT3 division and Italy’s Rita Cuccuru (1:52.50) rounded the PT1.

The competition is the third of 10 in the world paratriathlon event circuit and serves as qualification for the sport’s debut at the Rio 2016 Paralympics, with the conclusion in Chicago, USA, with September’s World Championships.

Full results can be found at the event website.

Also held over the weekend were the 2015 Sharm El Sheikh ATU Triathlon African Championships and Pan Arab Championships in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, which hosted divisions in men’s PT1, PT2, PT4, PT5, and women’s PT4.

Top finishers at the event included the South African trio of Anton Swanepoel (PT1), Stan Andrews of South Africa (PT4) and David Jones (PT5). Morocco’s Mohammed Lana won the PT2 race.

For complete results, visit triathlon.org’s website.

All athletes who competed this weekend were ranked in the top 50 in the world. The next race is the Yokohama ITU World Paratriathlon Event in Japan on 18 May.