Paralympian #220 Eltje Malzbender executed one of the finest rides of her career to take an outstanding bronze medal in the Women’s T1 Individual Time Trial at the Zurich 2024 Para cycling Road World Championships earlier today.
Riding in temperatures of around 17C, the 62-year-old Cambridge-based tricyclist completed the 11.3km route in a time of 24:08:50 – at an average speed of 28.084km to take her spot on the podium.
Gold was secured by Marieke Van Soest of the Netherlands in a time of 20:51.44 with the 2023 champion Pavlina Vejvodova of Czechia in silver (21:43.08). Malzbender finished significantly clear of Fatima Saipova of Uzbekistan (27:52.89) in fourth.
Malzbender, who claimed a silver medal in this event at the 2023 edition, was elated with her performance: “I’ve been competing internationally for seven years and despite not racing for the past eight months, I recorded a personal best average speed time, faster than when I became world champion (in 2019).
“The road was smooth with only one turnaround, which suited me well. I listened to my coach, encouraging me to ride faster and I rode strongly throughout.
“I’m very proud to represent New Zealand and be on the podium once again.”
Malzbender returns to competition at Zurich 2024 in the Women’s T1 Road Race on Friday starting at 9.02pm (NZT).
Malzbender, who lives with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) following a crash during a training ride, was introduced to riding a tricycle at the Cambridge velodrome and she was later selected on the HPSNZ Pathway to Podium programme with Paralympics New Zealand in 2018. She represented her country at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games finishing fifth in the Women’s T1-2 Individual Time Trial.
To follow results of the 2024 UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships go here
For a livestream of the action go here
Image: SWPix
