Triathlon at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's

The women's triathlon at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place at the Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo on 27 July 2021.[1][2]

Women's triathlon
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
VenueOdaiba Marine Park, Tokyo
Date27 July 2021
Competitors55 from 31 nations
Winning time1:55:36
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Flora Duffy  Bermuda
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Georgia Taylor-Brown  Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Katie Zaferes  United States
← 2016
2024 →

Over the course of the swimming and cycling legs, a select group of seven leading competitors had formed, including Bermudian Flora Duffy, Briton Georgia Taylor-Brown, and American Katie Zaferes. After distancing herself from Zaferes early on during the running leg, Duffy won the race and became Bermuda's first Olympic gold medalist.[3][4] Taylor-Brown, who had suffered a puncture late in the cycling leg, passed several competitors during the running leg to finish second, over a minute behind Duffy, and claim the silver medal, while Zaferes hung on to complete the podium and claim the bronze medal.[5][6]

Course

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Odaiba as seen from the Rainbow Bridge in 2014

The event took place at the Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo Bay, and was 51.5 kilometres (32.0 mi) long, the "standard" or "Olympic" distance for a triathlon. Competitors began with a 1.5-kilometre (0.93 mi) swimming leg, consisting of a 950-metre (3,120 ft) lap followed by a shorter 550-metre (1,800 ft) lap. Then, they took on the 40-kilometre (25 mi) cycling leg, which covered eight laps of a 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) course. Finally, competitors finished with four laps of a 2.5-kilometre (1.6 mi) course that made up the 10-kilometre (6.2 mi) running leg. Between each leg, there was also a transition zone in which competitors must change equipment and clothing for the next leg.[7][8]

Summary

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Gold medalist Flora Duffy (shown here in 2015)
Silver medalist Georgia Taylor-Brown (shown here in 2013)

There were 55 competitors entered into the triathlon, but only 54 started the event; Ukraine's Yuliya Yelistratova did not start after being provisionally suspended.[9] The field included then-reigning world champion Georgia Taylor-Brown of Great Britain, and her three immediate predecessors to that title, 2019 champion Katie Zaferes of the United States, 2018 world champion and compatriot Vicky Holland, and 2016 and 2017 champion Flora Duffy of Bermuda. American Gwen Jorgensen, who won the 2016 Olympic event, was not in the field to defend her title, having retired from the sport to focus on running,[10][11] but her fellow podium finishers from 2016, silver medalist Holland and bronze medalist Switzerland's Nicola Spirig, both competed.[2]

Heavy rain in the hours before the race delayed the start by at least fifteen minutes, and conditions remained wet during the race.[12] On the first lap of the swimming leg, Jessica Learmonth of Great Britain established the pace. A lead group quickly formed in the water, with Learmonth followed closely by Americans Zaferes and Summer Rappaport, Vittoria Lopes of Brazil, Laura Lindemann of Germany, and Taylor-Brown. At the end of the swimming leg, the lead group of seven had built up an advantage of at least 30 seconds on the rest of the field, which was led out of the water by Emma Jeffcoat of Australia. At the end of the first cycling lap, the leaders' advantage had grown to over a minute ahead of a chase group of 14 that included Spirig, Holland, and the Dutch duo of Maya Kingma and Rachel Klamer. A lack of organization in the chase group left Spirig to lead the chase and reduce the deficit, but with little success. On the next lap, the chase group was reduced to 12, while Rappaport and Lopes were dropped from the lead group on the fourth and sixth laps, respectively. A puncture for Taylor-Brown near the end of the cycling leg saw her cede 20 seconds to the other four leaders heading into the second transition.[5][6]

Duffy and Zaferes led at the start of the running leg, but by the end of the second lap, the Bermudian began to distance herself. Behind, Taylor-Brown overtook first Lindemann and then Learmonth before passing Zaferes with one lap to go. With a lead of over a minute, Duffy was able to celebrate her victory as she ran down the finishing straight, becoming Bermuda's first Olympic gold medalist. Taylor-Brown and Zaferes both finished over a minute behind Duffy but held on for the silver and bronze medals, respectively, while Lindemann and Learmonth were caught and passed by the faster runners of the chase group.[3][5][6]

Results

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Rank # Triathlete Nation Swimming Cycling Running Total time Difference
  29 Flora Duffy   Bermuda 18:32 1:02:49 33:00 1:55:36
  34 Georgia Taylor-Brown   Great Britain 18:31 1:03:11 33:52 1:56:50 + 1:14
  14 Katie Zaferes   United States 18:28 1:02:51 34:27 1:57:03 + 1:27
4 2 Rachel Klamer   Netherlands 19:17 1:03:05 34:09 1:57:48 + 2:12
5 31 Léonie Périault   France 19:13 1:03:13 34:06 1:57:49 + 2:13
6 26 Nicola Spirig   Switzerland 19:32 1:02:50 34:28 1:58:05 + 2:29
7 54 Alice Betto   Italy 19:14 1:03:11 34:42 1:58:22 + 2:46
8 10 Laura Lindemann   Germany 18:36 1:02:46 35:48 1:58:24 + 2:48
9 33 Jessica Learmonth   Great Britain 18:24 1:02:56 35:51 1:58:28 + 2:52
10 52 Valerie Barthelemy   Belgium 19:18 1:03:07 35:12 1:58:49 + 3:13
11 1 Maya Kingma   Netherlands 19:20 1:03:03 35:36 1:59:16 + 3:40
12 27 Zsanett Bragmayer   Hungary 19:19 1:03:07 36:18 2:00:00 + 4:24
13 32 Vicky Holland   Great Britain 19:12 1:05:24 34:20 2:00:10 + 4:34
14 12 Summer Rappaport   United States 18:29 1:03:58 36:35 2:00:19 + 4:43
15 19 Amélie Kretz   Canada 19:39 1:04:56 34:41 2:00:33 + 4:57
16 11 Taylor Knibb   United States 19:52 1:04:42 35:06 2:00:59 + 5:23
17 7 Simone Ackermann   South Africa 19:08 1:03:37 37:30 2:01:14 + 5:38
18 48 Yuko Takahashi   Japan 19:10 1:03:15 37:40 2:01:18 + 5:42
19 25 Jolanda Annen   Switzerland 19:32 1:05:04 35:36 2:01:31 + 5:55
20 56 Verena Steinhauser   Italy 19:42 1:04:52 35:56 2:01:47 + 6:11
21 15 Miriam Casillas   Spain 19:46 1:04:50 36:00 2:01:52 + 6:16
22 41 Melanie Santos   Portugal 19:32 1:05:07 36:13 2:02:06 + 6:30
23 40 Carolyn Hayes   Ireland 20:10 1:06:04 34:43 2:02:10 + 6:34
24 51 Lotte Miller   Norway 19:58 1:04:35 36:49 2:02:43 + 7:07
25 23 Bárbara Riveros   Chile 19:45 1:04:54 36:49 2:02:46 + 7:10
26 22 Emma Jeffcoat   Australia 19:06 1:03:18 39:13 2:02:57 + 7:21
27 38 Lisa Perterer   Austria 20:03 1:06:14 35:26 2:03:00 + 7:24
28 46 Vittória Lopes   Brazil 18:26 1:03:56 39:21 2:03:09 + 7:33
29 50 Nicole van der Kaay   New Zealand 19:35 1:05:02 37:34 2:03:26 + 7:50
30 4 Petra Kuříková   Czech Republic 19:55 1:06:26 36:32 2:04:10 + 8:34
31 9 Anabel Knoll   Germany 20:05 1:06:14 37:11 2:04:45 + 9:09
32 45 Luisa Baptista   Brazil 20:12 1:06:04 38:00 2:05:32 + 9:56
33 24 Romina Biagioli   Argentina 20:09 1:06:06 40:06 2:07:42 + 12:06
34 53 Claire Michel   Belgium 19:40 1:06:34 43:37 2:11:05 + 15:29
55 Angelica Olmo   Italy 20:15 1:06:01 Did Not Finish
44 Elizabeth Bravo   Ecuador 20:15 Lapped[a]
20 Ashleigh Gentle   Australia 20:07
3 Vendula Frintová   Czech Republic 20:16
21 Jaz Hedgeland   Australia 19:44
16 Anna Godoy   Spain 20:12
28 Zsófia Kovács   Hungary 20:30
8 Gillian Sanders   South Africa 20:18
43 Alexandra Razarenova   ROC 20:17
18 Joanna Brown   Canada 19:15
35 Zhong Mengying   China 19:53 Lapped[b]
36 Kaidi Kivioja   Estonia 21:40
17 Basmla ElSalamoney   Egypt 20:41
5 Cecilia Pérez   Mexico 20:05 Did Not Finish[c]
30 Cassandre Beaugrand   France 19:37 Did Not Finish
49 Ainsley Thorpe   New Zealand 19:15 Did Not Finish[d]
42 Anastasia Gorbunova   ROC 19:37
47 Niina Kishimoto   Japan 19:48
6 Claudia Rivas   Mexico Did Not Finish
37 Julia Hauser   Austria Did Not Finish
39 Yuliya Yelistratova   Ukraine Did Not Start[e]
Sources: Official results[1][9][13][14]

Notes

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  1. ^ Nine triathletes were lapped on the final lap of the cycling leg, as they did not reach the entrance to the corridor to transition 2 before the lead runner.[9]
  2. ^ Zhong, Kivioja, and ElSalamoney were lapped on the sixth lap of the cycling leg.[9]
  3. ^ Pérez suffered a flat tire on the fourth lap of the cycling lap. However, after she had the wheel replaced at the wheel station, she ultimately abandoned the race.[9]
  4. ^ Thorpe, Gorbunova, and Kishimoto all crashed on the first lap of the cycling leg and abandoned the race.[3][9]
  5. ^ Yelistratova did not start the race after being provisionally suspended.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Triathlon - Results". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Start List" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. Omega SA. 25 July 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Vaughan, Roger (26 July 2021). "Triathlete becomes instant national hero with their country's FIRST EVER Olympic gold medal". Seven News. Seven West Media. Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  4. ^ Maine, D'Arcy (26 July 2021). "Flora Duffy wins women's triathlon at Tokyo Games to give Bermuda first gold medal in Olympics history". ESPN. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Philipps, Mitch (26 July 2021). "Oympics [sic] - Triathlon - Dominant Duffy wins famous gold for Bermuda". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Gray, Doug (27 July 2021). "Olympic Champion: Flora Duffy realises Olympic destiny at Tokyo 2020". World Triathlon. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Triathlon". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Everything you need to know about Olympic Triathlon at Tokyo 2020". Olympics.com. International Olympic Committee. 3 March 2021. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g "Race Facts" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. Omega SA. 27 July 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  10. ^ Zaccardi, Nick (4 December 2019). "Gwen Jorgensen, Olympic triathlon champion, to focus on track trials". NBC Sports. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  11. ^ Snyder, Paul (7 November 2017). "America's Next Great Marathoner? Triathlon Champ Gwen Jorgensen Going for Gold". Runner's World. Hearst. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  12. ^ Phillips, Mitch (26 July 2021). "Triathlon-Storm delays start of women's race". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  13. ^ "Results" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. Omega SA. 27 July 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  14. ^ "Race Analysis" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. Omega SA. 27 July 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.