Recent Xenia Christian graduate Grace Norman atop the podium as she won the World Paratri Championships Sunday in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Grace won the women's PT4 Class. Grace was 26th in the D3 OHSAA State XC Championships last fall, running a 19:25.80 and was a two time D3 State finalist in the 1,600, placing 8th in 2015 with a 5:14.09 and 9th in 2016 with a 5:14.46.
Grace Norman - Making a Statement (Ohio MileSplit Interview)
Grace Norman's MileSplit Profile
Grace Norman left last Wednesday headed to the World Paratri (ParaTriathlon) Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands. As she acclimated to the 6 hour time difference, she spent several days pre-viewing the course and tapering for her World Championship race. Grace was third in the 2015 Championships and had not seen the majority of the competitors since last September. Since that time, in addition to running Cross Country and T&F for Xenia Christian, she put in hours upon hours into her triathlon training; working to get stronger in all 3 disciplines: 1,500m swim, 19.6km bike and a 5K run.
Sunday at 9:30am Ohio time, Grace and the other PT4 athletes heard the horn blow to signal the start of the World Championship 2016 race. Grace put in the best swim that she has ever done, coming out of the water just seconds behind the leader. She had a very smooth transition into the bike portion, and then delivered the fastest bike time of the PT4 women to take over the lead. Another smooth transition out onto the run course. Then Grace really hammered her run using her XC and 1,600m experience, putting down a 5K split of 19:08, to win the race 4 minutes in front of the next competitor.
What's next for Grace - the 2016 Rio Paralympics in September!