Germany won Olympic Mixed Relay gold as Laura Lindemann just anchored them to a thrilling victory after an epic sprint finish against the United States’ Taylor Knibb and Team GB’s Beth Potter.
The trio had been locked together since late on the final bike leg and Lindemann and Knibb initially put a bit of daylight between themselves and Potter.
But in scenes reminiscent of Alex Yee’s epic come-from-behind win in the men’s race last week, Potter found hidden reserves late on.
But Lindemann just held on, with such a close photo finish call for second that reigning champions Great Britain were initially named as silver medal winners before the USA were given the nod.
Tim Hellwig, Lisa Tertsch and Lasse Lührs were the other members of the German team as they underlined their status as Mixed Relay world champions.
And the first three teams were miles ahead of the rest, with hosts and favourites France more than a minute back in fourth after a horror show on the first of four swim / bike / run legs.
Their chances were all but ended when Pierre Le Corre was caught up in a bike crash with New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde, which was then compounded by a mechanical.
Read on to find out how a dramatic race unfolded…
Leg one – Nightmare for Wilde and Le Corre
Fears that a second triathlon postponement of the Games due to water quality (the men’s race was delayed last Tuesday) had been dispelled on the eve of the race and 15 men dived into the River Seine to get the relay under way with a 300-metre swim.
Missing though were Belgium after they pulled out following the news that Claire Michel had fallen ill.
The overhead conditions were perfect – blue skies and sunshine but fresher and far less humid than last week.
And we had a rematch straight away of that epic Alex Yee (Team GB) v Hayden Wilde (New Zealand) duel from last Wednesday’s individual event.
There was the worst possible start for Portugal as Ricardo Batista went a fraction early and he would serve a 15-seconds penalty at T1.
Alberto Gonzalez Garcia led the swim out for Spain in 4:03 with Yee nicely in contention for Team GB in seventh but Wilde was only 13th.
At the first transition there were issues for both – Yee dropped his swim cap but some quick thinking ensured there was no penalty while Wilde wasn’t able to get in the main group early on the bike in the first of two 3.5km loops.
That left Wilde and Switzerland’s Max Studer desperately trying to bridge back up which happened late on lap two but the real drama came soon after when Wilde hit the tarmac and left France’s Pierre Le Corre with nowhere to go.
And things went from bad to worse for Le Corre as his chain appeared to come off in the fall, meaning precious seconds ebbed away before he could get to T2.
France were exactly 30 seconds behind starting the run, with New Zealand not much better off.
But up front Yee was pushing the pace for Team GB just ahead of Studer and Germany’s Tim Hellwig.
And that was how it remained as Yee handed over to Georgia Taylor-Brown with the defending champions in an early lead.
Meanwhile New Zealand had 29 seconds and France 40 seconds to make up.
Leg two – Taylor-Brown puts hammer down
A brave tactic of heading left to the first buoy to try and take advantage of the currents proved an effective one for Germany’s Lisa Tertsch as she closed the gap on Taylor-Brown up front.
But the Brit re-established control on the way back in the swim and she was seven seconds ahead coming out of the water.
Italy were third, five seconds back on Germany, but it was starting to get strung out behind – and as yet France were making no ground as they tried to rescue their medal hopes.
Up front Taylor-Brown was pouring on the power on the cobbles, with Tertsch and Alice Betto forming the first of three chase groups.
It soon became a pack of ten behind GTB but after the first of the two bike loops she had a healthy 16-seconds lead over Germany, Italy, Switzerland, the USA, Norway, Spain, Brazil, Portugal, the Netherlands and Mexico.
Emma Lombardi was isolated for France, now 51 seconds back, with Australia, New Zealand and Austria even further in arrears.
Coming to T2, strength in numbers saw Team GB’s lead trimmed to 12 seconds and it was nine seconds after the first 900-metre run loop.
But Tertsch overhauled Taylor-Brown just before the second changeover and Switzerland’s Julie Derron continued the fantastic form which saw her take silver in the individual race last week to put Switzerland right in the mix in third, with just five seconds between the front three.
France were 55 seconds back at the halfway point.
Leg three – Heroic display from Dickinson
All eyes were on Sam Dickinson on leg three for Team GB after a closely-fought qualification battle with Jonny Brownlee.
But just as he did when helping Team England to Commonwealth Games glory two years ago, he wasn’t fazed by the occasion.
He put the Brits back into the lead by overhauling Germany’s Lasse Lührs in the swim but the two joined forces early on the bike.
They had an eight-seconds advantage over Switzerland’s Sylvain Fridelance and by halfway on the bike that was up to 17 seconds over what was now a four-nation chase pack comprising the Swiss, Portugal, Italy and the USA.
A potentially critical run was to come as Lührs has tended to be quicker than Dickinson in that discipline but the Brit produced a second brilliant transition on his leg to give himself a few metres head start.
The gap back to the chase pack remained steady at 16 seconds – though Morgan Pearson (USA) was among those looking to unleash their run power.
Dickinson and Lührs were shoulder to shoulder for the first of the two run laps but then came a potentially race-defining move as Dickinson surged clear of his German rival.
It was a magnificent effort – and full reward for his selfless act of pulling out early on the run in the individual race when he helped pilot Yee to glory.
It all meant that he gave Beth Potter a five-seconds advantage starting the last leg. She was up against Laura Lindemann for Germany and there were another 15 seconds back to the rest.
Leg four – Epic sprint finish
Lindemann initially closed on Potter in the swim but by the time they arrived at T1 the gap between them was back up to seven seconds.
But there was now a menacing presence behind them in the shape of America’s Taylor Knibb.
So strong is she as a cyclist that she also represented the USA in the women’s road time trial at these Olympics.
That proved to be a bit of a nightmare for her on rain-soaked roads – but could there be redemption here?
She joined Lindemann on the first bike loop but the pair weren’t able to claw back on any time on Potter. Indeed the opposite was happening as the lead was now up to 12 seconds.
Things changed drastically on the second lap though as the pair in behind worked superbly together to not only close the gap on Potter but also overhaul her late on.
Coming into T2 it was advantage Knibb but Potter showed why she is the ‘queen of transitions’ as she got out marginally in front at the start of the run.
At this point it was a minute and more back to the rest, with France up into fourth thanks to Cassandre Beaugrand.
There was virtually nothing between the front three but Potter looked the one to be struggling at the end of the first lap as she dropped a few metres back into third.
But that teed up the drama to come in a finish that will live long in the memory as Lindemann just snatched the ultimate prize for Germany.
The live broadcast initially said Potter’s late sprint had just snatched silver but closer analysis then saw the result confirmed as the USA in second and Great Britain in third.
Olympic Mixed Relay triathlon results
Paris, Monday August 5, 2024 – each leg 300m swim, 7km bike, 1.8km run
- 1. Germany – 1:25:39
- 2. United States – 1:25:40
- 3. Great Britain – 1:25:40
- 4. France – 1:26:47
- 5. Portugal – 1:27:08
- 6. Italy – 1:27:11
- 7. Switzerland – 1:27:16
- 8. Brazil – 1:27:23
- 9. Spain – 1:27:30
- 10. Netherlands – 1:27:37
- 11. Norway – 1:27:40
- 12. Australia – 1:28:50
- 13. Mexico – 1:29:20
- 14. New Zealand – 1:30:23
- 15. Austria – LAP
