Cycling at the 2024 Summer Paralympics – Women's time trial C4–5 explained

Event:Women's time trial C4–5
Games:2024 Summer
Venue:Vélodrome National, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
Dates:29 August 2024
Competitors:13
Nations:10
Win Value:35.566
Goldnpc:NED
Silvernpc:FRA
Bronzenpc:CAN
Prev:2020
Next:2028

The women's time trial class C4-5 track cycling event at the 2024 Summer Paralympics took place on 29 August 2024 at the Vélodrome National at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines . This combine class (C4-5) under classification C is for cyclists who have impairments that affect their legs, arms, and/or trunk but are still capable to use a standard bicycle. 13 cyclists from 10 nations compete in this event.[1]

The classifications are described as follows:

Records

Source:[2]

Women's C4 500m Time Trial
World Record34.812Kadeena Cox27 August 2021Tokyo
Paralympic Record
Women's C5 500m Time Trial
World Record35.599Caroline Groot27 August 2021Tokyo
Paralympic Record

Competition format

The competition begins with a qualification round, where the 13 cyclists will compete in pairs against the clock. The fastest six cyclists will qualify to compete for gold, silver and bronze in the final that afternoon, setting off in reverse order sixth fastest, then fifth fastest, etc.. The distance of this event is 500m.

A cyclist may have a different 'result time' than their real-time due to this event being a combined class event (C4-5), and some cyclists in their own class may have a disadvantage over other classes (for example due to speed), thus athlete factoring is used.

Despite this, different classifications have their own world and paralympic Games records

Schedule

All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)[3]

DateTimeRound
29 August 12:00 Qualifying
15:45 Final

Background

Double Paralympic Games champion, World record holder and three-time World champion in the C4 event, Kadeena Cox returns to attempt to complete a hat-trick of time trial championships at the age of 33. She arrives off the back of a difficult year that included a series of injuries and a relapse in her Multiple sclerosis condition, but also as the reigning world champion in her C4 category, and with no 'divided loyalties' as Cox was not selected for the athletics squad on this occasion.[4] Her nearest current rival, the Dutch C5 World champion Caroline Groot, now 27, also makes the start line, as does multiple world and Paralympic C5 medalist Nicole Murray of New Zealand. The time gap between Cox and Groot in the 2024 World championships - approximately 3 tenths of a second - means that factoring may have a crucial role to play in the final results.

Results

Qualifying

The C4–5 500 m time trial is a multi-classification event. To ensure fairness, factoring is applied to the times of each cyclist based on their classification, and it is this factored time represents their result, both in qualification and, if that cyclist qualifies, the final. In a women's C4-5 track event, the factor for a C4 rider is 98.67 and for a C5 is 100.00. The result of the cyclist is calculated as a percentage of the elapsed time, with the factor providing the relevant percentage.[5] [6]

The six fastest times after factoring qualify for the final.[7]

Rank Heat Cyclist Nation Class Real Time Factor Result[8] Notes
1 6 C5 35.390 100.00 35.390 Q
2 7 C4 35.914 98.67 35.436 Q
3 6 C5 36.677 100.00 36.677 Q
4 2 Kate O'BrienC4 37.493 98.67 36.994 Q
5 5 C4 37.505 98.67 37.006 Q
6 7 C5 37.367 100.00 37.367 Q
7 4 C5 38.929 100.00 38.929
8 5 Mariela DelgadoC5 39.107 100.00 39.107
9 2 C4 39.945 98.67 39.414
10 3 C4 40.431 98.67 39.893
11 4 C5 39.963 100.00 39.963
12 3 C4 40.558 98.67 40.048
13 1 C4 42.618 98.67 42.051

Final

Rank Cyclist Nation Class Real Time Factor Result[9] Notes
Caroline GrootC5 35.566 100.00 35.566
Marie PatouilletC5 36.700 100.00 36.700
Kate O'BrienC4 37.037 98.67 36.873
4 Li XiaohuiC4 37.688 98.67 37.187
5 Nicole MurrayC5 37.425 100.00 37.425
6 Kadeena CoxC4 DNF 98.67 DNF [10]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Start list . 2024-08-26 .
  2. https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024-paralympics/results/para-cycling-track/women-s-c4-5-500m-time-trial/qual000100--
  3. Web site: Cycling Track – Competition Schedule. COJOP. 26 August 2024. 29 August 2024.
  4. News: Aldred . Tanya . 2024-08-28 . Kadeena Cox fired up to rectify bittersweet feeling in Paris . 2024-08-29 . The Guardian . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  5. https://assets.ctfassets.net/761l7gh5x5an/27PPvp5fg1HTKTBAnvJg91/d22163750b9a7ae62b5afee7840e4f2b/Factors_2024.pdf UCI 2024 paracycling factors
  6. Web site: 2024-08-29 . Paris 2024 . 2024-08-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240829105524/https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024-paralympics/results/para-cycling-track/women-s-c4-5-500m-time-trial/qual000100-- . 2024-08-29 .
  7. https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024-paralympics/results/para-cycling-track/women-s-c4-5-500m-time-trial/qual000100-- Paris 2024 : Cycling Trach : Women's C4-5 TT Heat
  8. Web site: Para Cycling Track – Women's C4-5 500m Time Trial – Qualifying – Results. paralympic.org. COJOP. 29 August 2024. 3 September 2024.
  9. Web site: Para Cycling Track – Women's C4-5 500m Time Trial – Final– Results. paralympic.org. COJOP. 29 August 2024. 3 September 2024.
  10. Cox fell to the track shortly after beginning her effort, and appeared to injure herself, being helped off the track. In the absence of clear evidence of mechanical failure, UCI rules prevented a restart.