On Wednesday, Cassandre Beaugrand of France won the women’s triathlon at the Paris Olympics, much to the delight of her home crowd. Following the green light from pollution tests, the race began in difficult conditions following a rainstorm.
With just one kilometre to go in the 10-kilometer race, Beaugrand took the lead and went on to finish in one hour, 54 minutes, and 55 seconds. Brit Beth Potter took home bronze, and Switzerland’s Julie Derron continued her nation’s winning streak in the Olympic triathlon with silver.
The 1,500-meter swim in the Seine got underway with 36-year-old Flora Duffy, the defending champion, taking the lead. This was her seventh Olympic appearance. There were multiple accidents on the damp cobblestones during the event’s hazardous bike leg. Everyone in the top ten, with the exception of Laura Lindemann of Germany, rode the 40 km race without problem.
Beaugrand, Potter, Derron, and Emma Lombardi formed a lead pack throughout the 10-kilometer race. The Parisian crowd was enchanted as Beaugrand, in her first Olympic individual medal, pulled ahead on the last lap. Duffy, who was nursing a knee ailment, came in fifth, and Lombardi took fourth. Georgia Taylor-Brown of Great Britain, who won silver in Tokyo, finished sixth.
