German triathletes sprint to finish for Olympic mixed relay gold over U.S.
Americans beat Britain in a thrilling photo finish in Paris
Laura Lindemann won a thrilling sprint finish to give Germany gold in the Olympic triathlon mixed relay on Monday, outkicking the United States and Britain after highly-fancied France were scuppered by a bike crash on the first of four legs.
There was a photo finish for second place, with officials initially announcing Beth Potter had taken it for defending champions Britain, though neither team was aware of the switch until they were lining up in the wrong places for the medal presentation.
It was a redemptive race for Lindemann, who had suffered a bike crash in the individual event and finished eighth, as well as for Germany, who finished sixth in Tokyo but came to Paris as back to back world champions.
Lead athlete Tim Hellwig said his teammate's finish was "so exciting" to watch. "We know she has one of the strongest kicks in world triathlon, but you always have to pull it off on the biggest stage, it's always one day and anything can happen but we trusted in her and she did the job in the end," said Hellwig.
Lisa Tertsch, however, whose scorching run in the second leg brought Germany right back into the mix, said: "I couldn't watch. It was too much."
In front of huge crowds lining the Paris streets, Alex Yee, winner of the individual race last week and who anchored Britain to 2021 relay gold in Tokyo, gave the defending champions an early lead with a fantastic run, with France 40 seconds back in last place after Pierre le Corre was brought down by New Zealand's Hayden Wilde and then struggled to get his chain back on.With sprint distances of a 300-metre swim, seven-kilometre bike and 1.8 km run, it effectively ended the hosts' chance.
Britain's Georgia Taylor-Brown, also part of the Tokyo gold-medal winning team, was caught by Tertsch at the halfway point but Sam Dickinson made up time to hand individual bronze medallist Potter a slight lead to start the last lap.
Trio battle to the finish
Knibb took over in sixth place but immediately started working through the field.
A standout cyclist who also competed in the road time trial last week where she suffered several crashes on the wet roads, Knibb caught up with Lindemann on the bike, then overtook Potter just before the last transition.
The three than ran together until the final meters, with Lindemann prevailing.
Yee certainly knows how to sprint, having poured on the gas to win relay gold in Tokyo and individual gold on Monday.
His tally of two gold, one silver and a bronze makes him the most successful athlete in the 24-year Olympic history of the sport. Britain is also its most successful nation, with four gold and 11 medals in all.
"I'm so proud of the team," he said. "What an amazing day for our sport."
France did well to come through for fourth after a stellar last leg by individual champion Cassandre Beaugrand showed what might have been. "It's a big shame because we thought today we could do something big," said Le Corre.
Improved water quality in the Seine
Other than the photo mix-up, it was a brilliant end to another enthralling triathlon week, after the Seine water quality issues that caused the men's race to be postponed.
Organizers decided on Sunday afternoon that Monday's relay would go ahead after athletes had criticized the last-minute, early morning decisions that had impacted the individual races.
Athletes plunged into the Seine on Monday after organizers said the bacteria levels in the long-polluted Paris waterway were at acceptable levels.
The plan to hold the swimming portion of the triathlons and the marathon swimming events in the Seine was an ambitious one.
Swimming in the river has, with some exceptions, been off-limits since 1923 because it has been too toxic.
Representatives from World Triathlon and International Olympic Committee along with Paris Games organizers and regional and weather authorities met Sunday night to review water tests. The results indicated the water quality at the triathlon site had improved over the preceding hours and would be within the limits mandated by World Triathlon by Monday morning, they said in a statement.
Athletes became sick
Vetle Bergsvik Thorn of Norway, who competed Monday, also became sick in recent days. He said he had a bad stomach illness for about 12 hours but said "it's hard to say if it's the river or just some ordinary food poisoning."
"It's been quite a few stressful days with not knowing if we can swim or not," he said.
Swedish triathlete Tilda Månsson got sick on Saturday, three days after competing in the women's triathlon, according Swedish Olympic Committee spokesman Lars Markusson. Though the cause of her illness was unclear, Markusson told Swedish broadcaster SVT that "since others have also become ill perhaps you don't need to be a doctor to draw the conclusion that it had to do with the swimming in the Seine."
The decision to allow the event to go forward with swims in the Seine came after Belgium's Olympic committee announced Sunday it would withdraw its team from the mixed relay triathlon after one of its competitors who swam in the river last week fell ill. It was not clear whether her illness had anything to do with her swim in the Seine.
Paris spent 1.4 billion euros, or approximately 2.1 billion Canadian dollars, on infrastructure improvements to clean up the river that flows through its centre.
Heavy rains that have fallen off and on during the Games have caused headaches for organizers as they result in elevated levels of fecal bacteria, including E. coli and enterococci, flowing into the river.
Drenching rains fell Thursday night, but conditions had otherwise been dry except for light rain Saturday evening. The sun shone brightly as the race unfolded Monday and athletes said organizers reassured them that there were no concerns with water quality.
Organizers have continued to express confidence that warm temperatures and the sun's ultraviolet rays would combine to kill enough of the germs ahead of each event set to include a swim in the Seine.
With files from The Associated Press
