They still held hands, beamed wide smiles, and stepped onto the podium as one. Not for gold, despite leading for the majority of the race, or for silver, despite being initially declared runnersup, but for bronze, third in a three-team sprint finish separated by one-hundredth of a second on the line. A golden morning in Paris turned into devastation for Great Britain, as the reigning champions in the triathlon mixed relay lost their crown and settled for the minor medal by the barest of margins.
The result was changed after an investigation. A review of the photo finish quickly found Beth Potter was beaten to second by the indefatigable American Taylor Knibb after Germany’s Laura Lindemann sprinted to the gold that had been within Team GB’s grasp for so long. They had set out hard, with Alex Yee, Georgia Taylor-Brown, Sam Dickinson and then Potter stretching Great Britain’s lead to 12 seconds before the world champion was reeled in on the bike and fell behind on the run.
Potter tried to find a late surge but Lindemann was too strong, earning world champions Germany the Olympic title. “Photo finish” flashed up next to Great Britain and the United States but someone controlling the scoreboard was too quick in declaring the result. As the teams were lining up in the wrong places for the medal presentation, World Triathlon reviewed the photo finish and found Knibb had crossed the line first with her chest. When Team GB saw the evidence, they had no complaints about the decision.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 06, 2024-Ausgabe von The Independent.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der August 06, 2024-Ausgabe von The Independent.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Carse justifies England faith as the archetypal bold pick
If you won a boxing match after your opponent continually punched themselves in the face, how much credit can you take?
Tenacious Diallo the key to Amorim pressing machine
Old Trafford has not seen anything like this before.
Gold King Cole packs the Bridge with merry old souls
In the 83rd minute, the ball rolled to the feet of Cole Palmer in a bubble of space outside Aston Villa's box, and the crowd snapped to attention.
Vibrant Anfield marks the changing of the Guardiola
There was a lull in the noise, a break in the Anfield atmosphere, when a defiant chant emerged from a corner near Stefan Ortega’s goal.
What is so daunting about Spain's new data checks?
Q You have written about the new “red tape” for visitors to Spain. So, as well as your usual passport details you will give a contact number, address and email. Not exactly the Spanish Inquisition, is it?
Sectarian clashes claim at least 130 lives in Pakistan
At least 130 people were killed in deadly sectarian clashes in Pakistan's northwestern Kurram district in spite of a tentative ceasefire, days after gunmen opened fire on a convoy of vehicles carrying Shia Muslims, local officials said.
Coalition government likely in Ireland as count proceeds
Fianna Fail say decisions on power-sharing for another day’
How Syria's forgotten war is back on the world's agenda
Many believed the country was lost in an unsolvable conflict, until everything changed in a matter of days, writes Bel Trew
Assad regime scrambles to halt Syrian rebels’ advance
Civilians reportedly killed by Russian and Syrian airstrikes
Mother of poisoning victim says she knew she would die
Lawyer Simone White succumbed to the effects of methanol while backpacking in Laos with two of her childhood friends