The Men’s PTVI (visually impaired) division has been fiercely competitive in recent years, with tight margins often deciding the major races. Dave Ellis and his guide Luke Pollard will form part of Team GB's lineup, who bring experience to the table. On the other end of the spectrum, ParalympicsGB is also fielding a young duo, Oscar Kelly and his guide Charlie Harding, aged 23 and 21 respectively, who represent both the present and future of the sport.

“We’ve probably known for a while that we were effectively qualified – we were very confident in our consistency that qualification would happen," Kelly told Tri 247's John Levison in an exclusive interview. "It’s a first Games for us, but what we’ve really focussed on this year about races is not to focus on the race until the day before; just chill out, and you enjoy the process a lot more. If we go to another Games in the future – which touch wood we will – we’ve got experience behind us.”

“We are both in that mindset of just trying to treat it as any other race – you don’t have to do anything special at this point, just keep doing what you are doing," Harding stated. "We are really going to enjoy this experience and try not to get over-excited before. After the race, we’ve got a bit of time in Paris to really soak up the atmosphere.”

Two years ago, Oscar and Charlie were among the medal contenders at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Unfortunately, a puncture led to a fifth-place finish. Reflecting on that race, Oscar acknowledged their previous weakness in the bike leg but noted the significant progress they’ve made since then. 

“I don’t want to exaggerate and say light years apart, but there’s definitely been a step. We made a step up just before Commonwealth Games, and there were some places where we gained a lot of time without getting fitter. We’ve reinforced those gains – having that understanding that our bike wasn’t the strongest by far – but we’ve upped that power, which was a limiting factor. Then add bikes and technology, to try and be the best that we can be," Oscar added to Tri 247.

Charlie also recognised the improvements, “There’s such a difference. I don’t think two years ago, we would be anywhere near the quality of athletes that will be racing in Paris. But now, with the fitness we have, I think we will be up there contending, hopefully.” Their participation in the World Triathlon Para Cup in Paris last year provided valuable insights, despite the event being a duathlon due to health precautions.

Oscar explained, “We chose not to do the swim recce – we just didn’t want to risk illness, so we didn’t get that chance in the swim, but we did get to understand the bike and run courses. It was really tight racing because it was a duathlon, as everyone was a little less spread out after the first run, compared to a swim. 

"It was good to understand the course when it’s a little more bunched up, where you can take time out of people etc. Charlie and I had never done a duathlon together – I’d done a couple with other Guides – but it was by far the best duathlon performance that I’ve ever done.”

"Charlie pointed out the technical challenges they faced during the race, “We learned a lot. You’ve got the cobbles, and then there was something like 40 corners, really technical, and the run was on some cobbles too, so very different to normal races. Just having that experience of the technicalities, we can replicate that in training, so we can go in quite prepared for it.

"What it also highlighted, especially with adapted bikes that you can’t buy off the shelf, is that mechanical preparations are really key. We didn’t have any issues ourselves, but several other athletes did. Bike reliability is really important. We want a quick bike, but also a reliable one. It’s been a big focus for us.”

Oscar also took the time to praise his guide, Charlie, as well as other guides in the sport, for their often-overlooked role, “We’ve spoken about that before, but it is very much under-appreciated how good Guides are – they are not just your ‘average Joe’. They don’t just have to keep up, but push on to the limits to what we are able to do," he continued to popular Triathlon publication Tri 247.

"They also put themselves under a lot of pressure, because if something goes wrong, it isn’t just their race and they feel a lot of responsibility towards us as athletes. That can be quite hard and isn’t typically seen. That mental strength to take that pressure, and work under it and perform – it’s almost doubled, so they are very under-estimated, I think.”

The countdown is ON ⏳

10 days to go until the first of 2️⃣ days of Paralympic triathlon action 👊

🙋 Para Triathlon
📍 Paris, France
🗓️ 1st & 2nd September
⏰ 08:15 CET

Who’s READY❓#Paris2024 #ParalympicTRI #Paratriathlon #Triathlon pic.twitter.com/P5Yxmsu3E3

— World Triathlon (@worldtriathlon) August 22, 2024

With the Paralympic Games approaching, Kelly and Harding are focused on competing at their best, with Oscar viewing Paris as the start of a long career. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but I don’t think I would be happy if we only went to one Games. I don’t see success as being able to race well once, it’s being able to replicate, and I would like to go to three, four. 

"We’ll also see how Charlie progresses himself as an individual athlete, and if there’s any rule changes around what he’s able to do in his individual racing as to where he goes with his career beyond Guiding, as he’s a phenomenal athlete in his own right.”