Canadian Paralympic athlete Stefan Daniel spent the entire of 2023 training for the Paris Paralympics. Yet, when the day came, Daniel crashed, and his Paralympic dreams burned in spectacular fashion. Crashing during the cycling section knocked the race leader from first to tenth position. However, after just six weeks removed from his devastating loss, the athlete is back on top.

Stephan Daniel was in high spirits as he lined up alongside eleven other competitors at Torremolinos in Spain. Despite coming off a loss, the triathlete was among the favorites to win and emerged victorious, finishing the event in just under an hour. In fact, Daniel was the only athlete to clock an under-one-hour time, finishing the PT5 event in 59 minutes and 26 seconds.

“It feels quite good after some tough luck in Paris,” the 2024 World Para Triathlon winner said after the event. The 27-year-old came into the event as a five-time winner, with his fifth title coming in 2022, and walked away as a six-time winner. His victory was also made sweeter by the fact that Daniel defeated the 2024 Olympic Para Triathlon winner Chris Hammer.

Hammer slipped to 4th place with a 01:01:22 finish, while Australia’s Jack Howell finished second (1:00:13), followed by Filipe Marques from Portugal in third (1:00.43). However, Stephan Daniel felt delighted to come on top. “I was able to pick myself up the past four to five weeks… it wasn’t easy at all,” the para-athlete confessed as per a Canadian Paralympic Committee report.

“Today I just felt a sense of relief when I crossed the finish line. This will make the off-season so much sweeter. It was redemption.” added the champion. Stefan Daniel understood and believed that he could win gold in Paris. So winning his sixth world title while defeating the newly crowned Paralympic champion saved his season. Yet, bouncing back was no easy task.

The 2024 World Para Triathlon winner was left stunned in Paris

After a year of focusing on the Paris Paralympics, Stephan Daniel was excited to become one of the select pool of athletes to have swam in the Seine River. So Daniel was on track when he emerged in fifth place after the Seine swim section. By the time he hopped onto the cycling section for the event, the 27-year-old was already in the lead. However, disaster struck at a hairpin bend.

Although the track and field icon continued to race, he finished in 10th place. “I just miscalculated it. Lapse of judgment. I was down before I knew it,” the two-time Olympic medalist said after the race. “It hasn’t really hit me. A little disbelief, shock,” he added. However, things only got worse when reality hit the athlete.

Recovering after watching a year’s worth of effort go down the drain took an emotional toll on the champion. However, Daniel was determined to redeem himself at the World Para Triathlon. “The last month was really difficult for me, but today’s performance I was able to remind myself that I’m still a good athlete,” said the humble champion. However, many fans would argue that winning the world title six times in ten years makes Stefan Daniel an extraordinary athlete.