Sian Rainsley marked the return of triathlon to the European Games by finishing in 11th place ahead of teammates Sophie Alden (18th) and Hollie Elliott (28th).
Alden positioned herself at the front of the pack during the swim and took the lead from French athlete Mathilde Gautier at the halfway point. Further back Rainsley settled into the pack in 12th place with Elliott in 26th neck and neck with Switzerland’s Alissa Koenig. At the end of the swim Alden led alongside Gautier with the pair 16 seconds clear of third place. Rainsley was in a large chasing pack in 16th place with Elliott dropping to 30th.
As the bike section settled down Alden and Gautier stretched their advantage to 18 seconds at the 5k mark but were quickly pulled back in and by the 10k point that lead was just four seconds as Rainsley and the chasing pack had moved closer. Elliott had also closed and was within a minute of the leaders back in 28th.
The lead of the race exchanged hands several times as the leading pack, now 23 racers strong, moved beyond 15k. The leading British pair of Rainsley and Alden continued to push at the front end of the field and kept within 10 seconds of the leader as it looked to be anyone’s race. At the end of the bike the leading pack, which still included both Rainsley and Alden had become 22 as Ireland’s Erin McConnell fell further back. At this stage Elliott was a part of a five strong group, in 25th, looking to catch McConnell.
Coming out of T2, eventual winner Solveig Lovseth of Norway had taken the lead with Rainsley and Alden occupying sixth and fourteenth respectively as the leading group dropped another five athletes. During the run Alden fell further back and was 19th with Rainsley just off the pace of the leaders in 10th. Elliott had done well and remained in 25th place, however in the final 5k of the race she dropped to 28th where she eventually crossed the line. Ahead of her Rainsley just missed out on the top 10 coming home in 11th with a time of 01:35:55, seven places clear of teammate Alden.
Speaking after the race, Rainsley said: "It wasn’t my best day but it was such a cool event. The course was actually pretty cool in the end – they actually made it a bit more interesting in a way, coming onto a running track on the bike course was interesting and the run was really nice around the lake, quite twisty turny.
"It was good fun, really hard as well but the crowds got me round."
Alden added: "It was just so much fun, after Madrid I didn’t have that much confidence in myself so I just wanted to put a decent race together. To be at the front of the swim and working well on the bike, and then the good atmosphere on the run, I just enjoyed it."
In the men's elite race Barclay Izzard secured a top ten finish with Connor Bentley and Hamish Reilly crossing the line in 32nd and 38th. Read more about their races here.
Images by European Games 2023
