Lionel Morales, the paratriathlete from Lanzarote, has achieved first place in his PTS2 category this weekend in the Paralympic Triathlon World Championship event in Tata, Hungary.
He achieved gold just one week after securing fifth place in the European Championship held in Tarragona.
The triathlete from Lanzarote achieved this victory with an unbeatable split (1:09:11), followed on the podium by Italian Gianluca Valori (1:10:56) and Namibian Jeromius Rooi (1:24:20).
Morales' times were unbeatable; in his first water event, he achieved a split of 12:56, he also achieved the best split on the bike with 29:40 and took his time with the lead in the final running segment.
The first aquatic event took place in a lake that was 27 degrees, forcing participants to compete without wetsuits. Morales described this event as "quite slow" but controlled. For practically the entire race, he competed head-to-head with a Ukrainian who worried him, as he made quick transitions due to having two legs and caught him "reaching the first buoy," at which point he took first place.
The cycling event was completed successfully but also with complications, as 80-85% of the ground was cobblestone. The last event was running; after achieving a good time, Morales commented that he relaxed on the lap, due to the high risk of the cobblestones, where he "almost fell."
This is how the triathlete from Lanzarote achieved gold, but without rest because he is already preparing for the next Spanish Championship on August 22nd. He will then travel to Alhambra, Portugal, to compete in a World Cup and, finally, the grand final in September in Pontevedra.