Olympics Triathlon Paris Test Event Mixed Relay – Germany beat GB in a thriller
Germany won a famous victory in the Medley Relay at Olympic Games Triathlon Paris Test Event with Laura Lindemann showing off Beth Potter in an exciting game for the line in the French capital.
Hot favorites France missed out on a medal in the closing stages in a race full of surprises early on Sunday.
This came after the big pre-race news that saw the format changed back to Duathlon on the back of the swim also canceled for Saturday’s Para races. The water quality in the Seine must already be causing some sleepless nights in the year after the main event.
Leg 1 – Big guns are gathered
The initial run and then the bike leg was tight with the majority of the 22 team field all packed into one pack.
That started to change a bit on the last run as we finally saw a little separation at the front. It was Brazil with Miguel Hidalgo leading the change as he beat home favorite Dorian Coninx for France.
Behind it the rest of the big guns were all in close line, including Germany, Great Britain, Australia and Portugal. The top 10 were only separated by 14 seconds.
Part 2 – Beaugrand takes control
Coninx handed over to Cassandre Beaugrand – runner-up in Thursday’s individual race and a true sprint distance specialist. She wasted no time in putting some distance between herself and the rest of the field with a terrific opening.
When the athletes got on two wheels, however, the gap quickly disappeared with Britain’s Kate Waugh leading the chasers as they reached Beaugrand. Pretty soon we had a front six pack led by Great Britain, with Germany (Lisa Tertsch), France (Beaugrand), Hungary (Zsanett Bragmayer), Brazil (Djenyfer Arnold) and Belgium (Jolien Vermeylen) all together.
It was back in the second lap and Beaugrand again set about putting the French power back into proceedings and took the front to take a six second advantage after the 1st lap. Belgium followed with Germany at 00:10, Great Britain at 00:16 and Brazil at 00:17.
Beaugrand continued to push the pace on the 2nd lap of the course, extending the gap to second place now in Germany to 13 seconds with Belgium in 00:17 and Great Britain in 00:28. The French, as expected, now looked hot favorites for another victory in the Medley Relay.
France held a nine-second lead over Belgium as Beaugrand handed over to Léo Bergere, chased by Jelle Geens. Germany and Great Britain came next with these four looking likely to battle it out for the podium places. Could individual star Alex Yee close the gap in the bid for a medal position?
Leg 3 – Bergere pedal clear
Bergere continued to gain the French lead as he gradually pulled further away from the field with the bike the real catalyst for that gap to grow. By the end, the hosts were 20 seconds clear of Belgium, with Jonas Schomburg (Germany) 29 seconds off. Yee dropped to sixth after the transition – now 48 seconds off the lead and 19 seconds off a potential podium.
Geens cut a few seconds off the leader with an excellent transition and was now 14 seconds clear. Germany had a nice advantage in the battle for third over Portugal and Hungary. Yee meanwhile was seventh but had narrowly closed the gap on France – now 42 seconds off the pace.
As Bergere marked Emma Lombardi, France were just 8 seconds ahead of Belgium after a terrific finish from Geens. Then we have five teams leading the race for third place, all within seven seconds of each other. They were Portugal, Hungary, Australia, Germany and Great Britain.
Leg 4 – German victory, French withdrawal
Claire Michel kept the gap very tight in the opening heat and went into transition still just 10 seconds clear of Lombardi. Potter – so brilliant in Thursday’s individual competition – had finished last on the podium for Great Britain, but had Portugal, Germany and Hungary very close behind. It was very much a game for third place. Meanwhile, the United States was almost 90 seconds off the pace in 16th place.
The first bike lap saw Lombardi build a 15-second lead over Michel with that pack of four – Germany, Great Britain, Hungary and Portugal – neck and neck in the battle for third.
Emma led Belgium by just 10 seconds heading into transition for the final run, with the chasers now threatening the Belgians for second. Portugal, Germany, Hungary and Great Britain were still in the bracket towards the business end of the match.
Michel was gobbled up early on that last run and now the tantalizing question was could these chasers even threaten Lombardi at the front? It looked more likely until second with Lombardi’s lead over Potter (GB) and Lindemann (GER) just 4 seconds at the bell.
Potter went straight ahead in the final leg in a surprising twist to this exciting story. Lindemann didn’t let Beth get away easily, but Lombardi fell and struggled to third. It was now Britain or Germany for gold.
Potter and Lindemann literally went together on the blue carpet and it was the German who had the final sprint to take a famous victory. Behind them was more big news with Michel for Belgium coming back to beat Lombardi and France in the race for bronze. The United States ended the day falling to ninth place, some 47 seconds back.
Paris Mixed Relay Trials Results
Sunday, August 20, 2023
900m Run/5.8km Bike/1.8km Run (Duathlon format)
- Germany – 1:12:18
- Great Britain – 1:12:19
- Belgium – 1:12:36
- France – 1:12:40
- Portugal – 1:12:41
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