German triathlon medal dream shattered by fall chaos
First, the water is too dirty, then the streets of Paris are wet from the rain: The women's triathlon at the Olympics is heavily overshadowed. Even the German athletes crash on their bikes and have to bury their medal dreams. The Olympic victory goes to the Frenchwoman Cassandre Beaugrand.
The controversy over the water quality of the Seine was followed by chaos on the bike: The women's triathlon at the Olympics was overshadowed by several uncertainties. To the dismay of the Germans, both Lisa Tertsch and Laura Lindemann crashed on the wet streets of Paris. Their dream of a medal was shattered.
Lindemann finished eighth, like in 2021, while Tertsch came ninth, just behind her. Nina Eim crossed the finish line in twelfth place. Coach Thomas Moeller was still frustrated with the situation before the end of the race on ARD, saying, "This is not what we wanted, when you have two athletes in the lead and both crash."
"It happened so fast, then it was more or less over," Lindemann said on ARD. "After a crash like that, you lose at least 30 seconds, I lost more. You can't make up that time on such fast people." Tertsch also said it was "disappointing and bitter" to lose the chance, but "at least everything is still in one piece, and I didn't have to go to the hospital."
Cassandre Beaugrand won the competition and became the Olympic champion in front of cheering home crowds. Silver went to Swiss athlete Julie Derron, and bronze to British athlete Beth Potter. At around 8 a.m., the 55 athletes were released onto the pontoon at the Pont Alexandre III. Nineteen of them started early, jumping into the Seine too soon, but they were not penalized.
Tertsch was involved in a crash. The swim, which was divided into two sections with a brief land stop in between, saw the three German athletes already trailing the leaders. The swim in the Seine couldn't be tested due to poor water quality, leading to the men's competition being postponed until Wednesday. The athletes knew they would swim with the current on the way out, making the return journey more challenging.
Flora Duffy, the reigning Olympic champion from Bermuda, was the fastest swimmer and the first to transition to the bike. However, the distances were still close, with Tertsch and Lindemann in the lead. Only Nina Eim had lost a significant amount of time in the swim. Tertsch was then one of the first to crash on the wet roads, getting caught up in a crash involving two athletes ahead of her. The gap to the leaders was too great to dream of a medal.
Lindemann was in the lead group for a long time but also crashed in the final bike lap and couldn't catch up to the leaders. Although both could continue, other athletes had to abandon the race due to injuries. Jeanne Lehar from Luxembourg sat crying by the roadside, leaning against a barrier. Lotte Miller from Norway also crashed twice and had to be treated on the asphalt.
In the end, it was a German-German sprint for the finish.
On the final 10-kilometer run, Beaugrand then surged ahead early, the leading group shattered, with only three other athletes able to keep pace. Derron applied pressure for a long time but couldn't hold on decisively in the end. Beaugrand, fueled by thousands of enthusiastic spectators lining the Paris streets, sprinted to Olympic victory.
For the three Germans, it was damage control from that point on, as they had no part in the medal race following the chaos of the crashes. All three exited the second transition zone together in a larger group. Lindemann ultimately won the final sprint against Tertsch, with only two seconds separating them. Eim followed ten seconds later to cross the finish line.
The postponement of the men's triathlon was discussed due to the poor water quality in the Seine, potentially affecting the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris. Amidst the chaotic bike leg, many athletes, including German contenders, faced unfortunate crashes, impacting their medal prospects.
