Over a few deafening minutes along the Seine, Team GB expected gold, were awarded silver, and were then downgraded to bronze after a wrongly adjudged photo-finish. We always knew a mixed triathlon embracing Paris’s greatest sights would look spectacular. But this was a race that also took the breath away.
Three teams were still slugging it out for gold as they saw the finish line on the Pont Alexandre III. But ultimately 1hr 25min 39sec of racing came down to one second, which was the gap between Laura Lindemann of Germany, who sealed gold for her team, before Taylor Knibb of the USA and Team GB’s Beth Potter finished second and third, respectively.
Organisers initially awarded Britain the silver. But with the Americans heading to the medal ceremony to accept what they thought was bronze, the placings were reversed.
However Mike Cavendish, the GB triathlon performance director, said he had no complaints. “As soon as they crossed the line they looked at a still from the video, which isn’t the official photo-finish,” he said. “When we got that, it’s very, very tight, but you can see it is clear.
“The team would have liked to have won a silver, but I think that passes pretty quickly when they realise ultimately it’s an Olympic medal. It was an unbelievable race. It’s a fantastic advert for our sport, and any disappointment dissipates pretty quickly.”
France had been the big favourites for the event that required teams of four athletes to complete a 300m swim, 7km on the bike, and a 1.8km run before tagging the next teammate. However, their race was effectively over on the first leg when Pierre Le Corre was taken out by New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde on the bike – and then watched in horror as his chain came off too.
“I managed to get up really fast after the crash, and I thought it was all right,” Le Corre said. “No problem, it’s only five seconds. But with the chain it took 10 to 15 seconds more.”
At the end of the first leg, Alex Yee and Team GB led by 3sec with Germany second and France 40sec back, in last place. Those two teams continued to lead at halfway after strong legs from Georgia Taylor‑Brown and Lisa Tertsch, but an impressive third leg from Sam Dickinson meant the British team were 5sec ahead when he tagged Potter.
Given Potter was a good enough runner over 10,000m to compete at the Rio Olympics as a track and field athlete, Team GB looked to have the advantage.
Meanwhile the US team were 21sec back in sixth. However an extraordinary bike leg by Knibb brought her right back to Lindemann, and between them they went on to catch and attack Potter.
At this stage it was clear that the fight for the medals would be between Germany, the US and Great Britain. But the 1.8km run proved perfect for Lindemann, as Potter found herself unable to find her track speed at the death
“The run leg was tough,” Potter said. “I think I was a bit tired from the bike. I got a bit detached on the first lap but managed to get myself back into the mix and then I was all in for the last 200 metres. I thought we might have had the silver. We got a bronze but it’s still a medal.”
Inevitably there were also questions over the quality of the water in the Seine, with Cavendish saying that he wished the team had been able to practise on the river. But he also insisted it was the right decision to race, too.
“We came down this morning and they were three or four deep [in the crowd] at 5am,” he said. “You wouldn’t have had that outside the centre of Paris. We know it wasn’t ideal but at the end of the day it’s been a brilliant spectacle and that’s what it will be remembered for. People will forget about the water.”
Meanwhile the American athlete Morgan Pearson described it as “a crapshoot” – although he was referring to the uncertainty surrounding the result of the race and not the contents of the Seine.
Pearson, however, did then describe the water as “quite brown” before saying: “We were looking out the window constantly thinking: ‘Oh no, it’s raining again.’”
