Martin Schulz again European champion: Triumph despite calf problems!

Martin Schulz again European champion: Triumph despite calf problems!

Besançon, Frankreich - Another great success for para triathlete Martin Schulz: Today on June 14, 2025, the 35-year-old in Besançon, France, once again won the title of European champion. He brings his already impressive collection to a whopping twelve EM title. Creative and as usual quickly, Schulz finished in a time of 1:02:52 hours and this time had to struggle with calf problems that had burdened him in the weeks before the competition. But the athlete was not put off by that, putting his outstanding form into account at the crucial moment. The second place went to the Portuguese athletes Filipe Marques, who finished 1:03:43 hours, followed by Tom Williamson from Ireland, who stopped at 1:05:31 hours. The competition was quite strong, but Schulz once again showed that he is a class of its own in his start class PTS5.

But not only Schulz won medals at the European Championship: Max Gelhaar secured silver in his starting class, while Neele Ludwig also reached second place in her class. A real team business for German para triathletes, so to speak, because in addition to Schulz, a total of four medals were won. This is also reported by the team Germany Paralympics, which highlights the positive trend of the German athletes.

competitive conditions and changes

The competition had its pitfalls, however, because due to bad weather conditions and water quality in Besançon, the triathlon was quickly converted into a duathlon. The athletes initially had to run 2.5 kilometers, followed by 20 kilometers on the bike and finally 5 kilometers. This was not the first time that such a conversion took place; National coach Tom Kosmehl remembered a similar incident in the previous year. Despite the challenges, the German team showed a remarkable performance, which Kosmehl summarized with a clear "We performed well".

In addition to Schulz, some other athletes also ran to the best: Elke van Engelen achieved second place in her category with a time of 1:18:36 hours. Here she was trumped by the Spaniard Marta Francés Gómez, who mastered the route in 1:15:16 hours. Neele Ludwig could also be proud of himself: In her third international race, she secured her first international medal with 1:33:15 hours, while she had to refer Cécile Saboureau from France to first place with 1:23:07 hours.

look into the future

national coach Kosmehl will be optimistic about the coming months. Preparations for the Paralympics are running, and the athletes seem to be well in shape. This means that the further development of the German Para Trisathlon team is exciting. Schulz and Co. have reason to be happy at the moment, but the next challenge is already at the door - and as always: the form must be right!

For more information about the success of Martin Schulz and other athletes, interested parties can be found on the detailed reports on Diesachsen.de and Teamdeutschland-paralympics.de