A stunning finish saw Beth Potter narrowly miss out on a silver medal to American Taylor Knibb in a photo finish as Team GB took bronze in the triathlon mixed team relay at Paris 2024. Germany took the gold medal by just one second.
Alex Yee got things underway for Team GB and came out of the water in seventh place with Spain leading the way after the 300m swim thanks to Alberto Gonzalez Garcia’s strong effort. The Olympic Men’s Champion then lost some time as he dropped his swim cap on the way to T1 before collecting it to avoid a time penalty.
Over the course of lap one of the 7km bike leg the Brit made his way into the lead group which was 12 strong.
The 1.8km run saw Yee take the lead with Switzerland’s Max Studer and Germany’s Tim Hellwig for company. He soon dropped the duo to give himself a three second gap as he handed over to fellow Tokyo mixed team relay gold medallist Geogia-Taylor Brown.
She was soon joined by Lisa Tertsch of Germany on the first half of the swim but the Brit kicked on in the final moments to give herself a seven second lead at the start of the bike leg. Over the course of the first lap of the bike leg Julie Derron of Switzerland moved up to second place as a chase group of 10 formed to try and chase down Taylor-Brown as she led by 16 seconds.
Continuing to go it alone, Taylor-Brown’s lead was cut to 12 seconds over the course of lap two. The 1.8km run saw Derron continue to lead the rest of the field in their pursuit of the Brit and she reduced the gap to nine seconds after the first 900m. The threat then came from the German team as Tersch put in a stunning second lap to take the lead as she handed over to Lasse Lührs
Sam Dickinson, who was on leg three for Team GB, quickly retook the lead in the water. He was joined by Lührs on the bike leg with the rest of the field stretched out behind them and the Swiss team continuing to offer the nearest threat in the form of Sylvain Fridelance. The lead continued to change hands as Dickinson and Luhrs pushed on across the second leg on the bike, with neither breaking away.
A slick T2 then gave Dickinson a small advantage at the start of the run and at the 900m mark he was still out in front by just one second. The Brit kicked on in the closing metres to give Potter a five second lead at the start of the final leg.
The individual Women’s bronze medallist put another two seconds back to Germany’s Laura Lindemann on the 300m swim and that lead stretched even more as Potter moved 12 seconds clear on the first lap of the 7km bike leg. At this stage America’s Knibb moved up to second as she pulled her team back into contention for the win.
Potter’s lap one pace wasn’t matched on the second lap as the chasing duo caught up to her and she soon dropped down to third. Just one second separated the lead trio as they headed out onto the 1.8km run. She was still in third at the 900m mark as Knibb continued to lead the way.
After Potter had pushed herself level with Lindemann and Knibb it came down to a sprint finish between the trio. Lindemann was first across the line to claim the gold medal for Germany as Potter narrowly missed out on a silver medal, losing a photo finish to Knibb.
Photo Credit: World Triathlon and Team GB
