Olympics-Triathlon-Britain win first-ever mixed-relay gold

Rio Silver

31/07/2021 01:05

TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters) - Britain made history on Saturday
as they won the first-ever Olympic gold in the triathlon mixed
relay in 1:23:41, adding a third medal to their triathlon haul
at Tokyo's Odaiba Marine Park, as the United States took silver
and France finished third. 
    Jessica Learmonth got Britain off to a roaring start as she
led out of the swim on the first leg, and Rio silver and London
bronze individual medallist Jonny Brownlee expanded their lead
to nine seconds after the second leg with a superb transition
off the bike. 
    Georgia Taylor-Brown and Alex Yee, who each won silver in
the individual events earlier in the week, held on for Britain
in the final half of the event under searing and sunny
conditions, as competitors throughout the race collapsed on the
blue carpet from exhaustion after completing their legs.
    The race format features teams of two men and two women, who
each complete a short-course race of 300 metres swim, 6.8km bike
and 2km run before tagging their team mate to take over.
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 (Reporting by Amy Tennery in Tokyo; editing by Stephen Coates)
 ((Amy.Tennery@thomsonreuters.com; 646-223-6343;))