Paris 2024 Olympics - Triathlon - Mixed Relay - Paris, France - August 05, 2024. Laura Lindemann of Germany reacts before crossing the line to win the race and the gold medal ahead of Beth Potter of Britain and Taylor Knibb of United States. REUTERS/Albert Gea
PARIS (Reuters) -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 that Beth Potter had taken it for defending champions Britain, only for Taylor Knibb and the U.S. to upgraded - though neither team were 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.
"I believed in myself and I just gave it my all. It's amazing. The team did such a great job and we deserved it," Lindemann said.
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."
'BIG SHAME'
In front of huge crowds lining the Paris streets, Alex Yee, winner of the individual race last week and who anchored Britain to 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 300metre swim, 7km bike and 1.8km 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.
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 metres, with Lindemann prevailing.
"I've never been in a sprint finish before, so with maybe 400 metres to go, I'm like, 'how do I do this?'" Knibb said, after claiming hers and her country's second successive silver in the event.
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 golds, 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 golds 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.
Other than the photo mix-up, it was a brilliant end to another enthralling triathlon week, after the Seine river water quality issues that caused the men's race to be postponed.
Organisers decided on Sunday afternoon that Monday's relay would go ahead after athletes had criticised the last-minute, early morning decisions that had impacted the individual races.
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Peter Rutherford and Christian Radnedge)
