No one could follow her attack in the last kilometer: the Frenchwoman Cassandre Beaugrand won the triathlon in Paris.
Photo: AFP/Jeff Pachoud
The water, the water: For months there has been discussion about how dangerous the germs in the Seine could be for the athletes in the Olympic triathlon and free swimming competitions. But when the time finally came at 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning and the triathletes finally jumped into the river at Pont Alexandre III, the water quality wasn’t the problem for the German starters at least. No, the biggest impact, in addition to the treacherous current of the Seine, was the rain-soaked streets: a number of triathletes fell on the second section, including the two German medal candidates Lisa Tertsch and Laura Lindemann. As the hosts had hoped, the winner came from France: co-favorite Cassandre Beaugrand won after 1:54:55 hours.
It had rained heavily the night before. When the triathletes set out on the route, the rain had just stopped. 1500 meters of swimming, 40 kilometers of cycling and 10 kilometers of running: the course of the competition was spectacular. After swimming, we went along the banks of the Seine through the middle of the awakening French capital, on the racing bike over the Champs-Élysées and to the National Assembly, then back to the Ponte Alexandre III, with a view of the Grand Palais on one side and the Invalides on the other .
A perfectly organized race
The sun shimmered through the plane trees and chestnuts, the puddles evaporated steaming. Olympic tourists strolled through this almost tropical morning, several bicycle commuters got off on their way to the office and joined the spectators at the barriers. They cheered on the athletes together. “The spectators really carried us along the route,” Laura Lindemann said later. “Super beautiful!” And for the winner it was fantastic anyway: “It was magical, the best route in a long time,” enthused Cassandre Beaugrand, third in the world rankings, after the race. »I know that all the starters feel that way.«
The 27-year-old, who lives in Great Britain, had timed her race perfectly: She switched from the water to the bike in sixth place, 27 seconds behind the leading Tokyo Olympic champion Floria Duffy from Ireland. A nine-man chasing group quickly emerged, which Duffy finally collected after two of three cycling laps. A group of four formed on the 10-kilometer run, from which the Frenchwoman attacked in the last kilometer. No competitor could follow her lead, and so she crossed the finish line on the Alexandre III Bridge as the sole leader. At the finish she broke down and cried. “I just can’t believe it,” Beaugrand said. “I want someone to pinch me now.”
Germans hope for the team competition
Silver went to Julie Derron from Switzerland and bronze to Beth Potter from Great Britain. The Germans, however, now have to wait for the team competition next week: “Now we have to get the medal in the relay,” Laura Lindemann tried to be optimistic. She has to get over her fall as quickly as possible. She can’t explain it: “I just slipped away, it happened super fast. You can no longer compete for the medals after a fall like that.”
Lindemann said she had no concerns about water quality: “If the association says the values are okay, then I rely on it. The current was more of an issue for me!” Nina Eim from Itzehoe, who finished 12th, saw it similarly: “Yes, the current was strong, especially around the buoys.” But she had exactly the same situation specifically trained at home in Schleswig-Holstein. “We also have a river, the Stör, where I trained a lot.” When asked whether the debate about the cleanliness of the Seine had detrimental to the image of the triathlon, Eim said: “We definitely got a lot of attention!”
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