Josh's Journey - Road to Paris 2024
By Daniel Wilson
Local lad and elite para-triathlete Josh Landmann is within touching distance of qualifying for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. We'll be following his journey every step of the way.
Landmann was born right here on the Fylde Coast, attending Rossall School in Cleveleys, and hopes to represent the Fylde as part of Team GB's paralympic triathlon squad next year.
Josh, who only took up para-triathlon in 2017, is also a motivational speaker, and was even an international alpine skier before he changed course to focus on triathlons due to the UK's marked lack of snowy mountains.
The triathlete was left paralysed from the chest down after breaking his neck diving into a swimming pool on holiday in 2014.
He said: “From having my accident all those years ago and not knowing where my life would go, it would mean the world to be a Paralympian."
"People have supported me from the start and it would mean a lot to pay people back.”
At para-triathlon events sanctioned by World Triathlon, athletes like Josh compete over a sprint race, which includes a 750m swim in open water, a 20km cycle and a 5km wheelchair or running race.
Events take place across the globe, in various terrains, conditions and environments.
After a superb 3rd place finish in A Coruna, Spain for the World Triathlon Para Cup last week, Josh called his last race "A great motivation boost coming off the back of one full week of training," on his Instagram @joshlandmann.
Josh is racing once again next weekend, competing in the Swansea World Triathlon Para Series on Saturday 15th July.
Of course, qualifying for the Paralympics is the end-goal for Josh, but there's still plenty more races to go before that dream of representing Britain on the biggest stage of all becomes a reality; Not to mention hundreds of hours of hard graft in training behind the scenes.
We'll be following the entire journey alongside Josh, keeping you up-to-date with written and video content across our website and socials, so stay tuned to follow along with us.
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Josh's latest race in Swansea went down last weekend on Saturday 15th July, and ended in a P6 finish for the local Para-triathlete.
The World Triathlon Para Series race last week was centered on the Prince of Wales Dock, and saw over 100 elite para-triathletes from Britain and around the world, all competing for valuable qualification points for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
Unfortunately however, the points up for grabs in last week's race were cut to 75% of their usual amount.
This was due to bad weather conditions causing the planned event to be changed to a shortened race format - the 'Aquathlon,' which eliminates the cycling element.
Josh said he believed there were more places to be gained in the race, but a mechanical failure hindered his chances.
Visible in the picture below, the rubber on Josh's push rim shredded off on the first lap as he was chasing fourth place.
He added: "From there, damage limitation and keep pushing hard was the only thing on my mind."
The next major event on the agenda for Josh is the British Paratriathlon Championships, AKA the Eton Dorney Sprint Triathlon, taking place on the 26th August.
That will be the fourth race in the five-race 2023 British Triathlon Paratri Super Series Josh is competing in, which concludes with the British Triathlon Grand Final in Mallory Park in September.
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Josh Landmann Highlight Reel:
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