German Golden in Sensational Olympic Mixed Team Relay

In partnership with

Good morning everyone,

I’m now back home after a whirlwind trip to Paris to watch my wife compete at the Olympics.

It was a really great experience being able to see what a normal Games is like with the crowds, and the incredible atmosphere.

• And although the trip wasn’t too long, we now have a lifetime of incredible memories.

In today’s edition:

• 🥇 A recap of the sensational Olympic Mixed Team Triathlon Relay

•  🏃 Why this type of running might lead to a performance breakthrough.

• 🧊 And can ice slushies save your next hot weather training day?

Thanks for being here,

-Matt Sharpe, newsletter editor

Have a triathlete in your life who can't stop swimming, biking, or running? Fire this off to them. Forwarded from a friend? Sign-up for free. 

TEMPO AT THE GAMES

Germany Golden in Sensational Olympic Mixed Team Relay

What is it: Early Monday morning, the second and final day of Olympic triathlon competition took place. This time featuring the dynamic and unpredictable mixed team relay.

As the athletes dove into the Seine for the first leg, it was clear to the hundreds of thousands of spectators who lined the course, and the millions of fans watching at home that they would be witness to an incredible moment in triathlon’s history.

• In the end, a three-up sprint for glory would produce one of the greatest finishes in the history of the sport, and require a photo finish to determine who stood where on the podium.

MTR explained: The mixed team relay, first debuted in 2009, is made up of a gender-balanced four-person team. Each team member completes a super-sprint triathlon consisting of;

• 🏊‍♀️ 300m swim

• 🚴 7km bike

• 🏃 1.8km run

When each athlete completes their individual triathlon, they tag off to a teammate. This continues until the 4th and final athlete crosses the finish line.

• In Paris, the men would start the race, and the women would finish.

Olympic mixed team relay - Leg 1: The first leg featured individual medalists Alex Yee and Hayden Wilde alongside a slew of top performers like France’s Pierre Le Corre. Other teams, like the USA and Germany, had athletes with unremarkable individual races but had previously shown success in mixed relay events.

• After another inconsistent race start the athletes quickly found themselves bunched together at the first swim buoy. On the return, even the exceptionally strong river current couldn’t break up the 15 athletes.

On the first of two bike laps a large peloton formed containing the entire field. A historic first for the mixed-team relay. More athletes together meant more intrigue, it also meant more chances of unexpected bike crashes.

• On the final 180-degree turn of the bike, disaster struck as New Zealand’s Wilde hit the pavement.

• France’s Le Corre, directly behind Wilde, crashed over the top of the Kiwi.

• As he struggled to fix his bike and return to the race, the hopes of a home nation gold slipped away.

Exiting T2, 13 athletes would start the run together, but only one would break away from the pack to give their team a solo lead; Yee. The gold medalist handed Georgia Taylor-Brown a solid lead heading into the second leg. 

• But many teams, including Switzerland, Germany, Italy and the USA were still within striking distance.

Leg two: Taylor Brown was the first female to enter the water for the mixed team relay, and the first to start the bike. She would solo the entire ride before heading onto the run with a fourteen-second gap. 

• Behind her, Switzerland’s surprise silver medalist, Julie Derron, was carrying the chase group that included the USA Italy, Portugal, Germany, and Spain. They would enter T2 looking to bring back Taylor-Brown.

After lap one of the run Taylor-Brown’s lead was 7 seconds. By the end of lap two her lead had been completely evaporated by a hard-charging Lisa Tertsch (GER). 

• Taylor Spivey (USA) would finish just behind the leaders. Closely followed by Spain, Italy, and Portugal. 

Leg three: Tertsch’s massive run effort ensured that Germany, now led by Lasse Luhrs, was able to hang with Britain’s Sam Dickinson through the swim. 

Both athletes would start, and finish the bike together. Behind them, Morgan Pearson (USA), Vasco Vilaca (POR), and Alessio Crociani (ITA) made up the chasing pack of athletes hoping to keep their team in the hunt for medals. 

On the run, Dickinson proved his controversial Olympic selection over Jonathan Brownlee was correct as he blasted ahead of Luhrs, once again putting Great Britain alone in the lead. Luhrs tagged off four seconds in arrears to countrywoman Laura Lindemann, a blue chip relay performer.

• Of the Pearson/Vilaca/Crociani group, only one of them was tagging off to a previous Olympic Mixed Relay medalist and two-time IRONMAN 70.3 World Champion…

Leg four: After a bronze performance in the individual race, Beth Potter (GBR) mentioned she hadn’t quite been able to find her run legs this year. Her swim arms? All accounted for. 

During the swim, she extended Britain’s lead in by another six seconds. Starting the bike she had 11 seconds up on Germany. Her gap to the strongest cyclist in the sport, America’s Taylor Knibb? 23 seconds. 

After lap 1 of the bike, Knibb had already cleaned up the gap to Lindemann. The German would desperately hang on Knibb’s wheel as she continued her relentless assault on two wheels. Late on the second bike lap, Potter was caught.

• One became three and only the color of the medals was still left to be decided as they headed out on the run.

Forgetting she had just led the entire bike ride, Knibb placed herself in the lead and kept a scintillating pace. Lindemann and Potter could do all they could to hang on to the American. 

• After one lap the trio was still together. 

With about 500m to the finish Knibb appeared to be breaking Potter. But as they approached the finish straight the three athletes were neck and neck. 

Lindemann made the first and most devastating move. A small gap formed to the others that she would hold to the finish line. Behind her, Potter and Knibb would cross the line together in an incredible photo finish.

• Germany had won, but the results after were unclear.

30 minutes after the closest finish in the sport’s history, it was determined that Knibb had beaten Potter by 5 one-thousandths of a second. 

• 🥇 Germany

• 🥈 USA

• 🥉 Great Britain

Full results

Tempo’s take: After this race, Taylor Knibb should never have to pay for a beer (or anything?!?) in Germany. As without her they certainly don’t have a gold medal hanging around their necks.

• And Britain, the previous gold medalists, seemed to be a victim of their own success. Every time they took the solo lead they would eventually be passed. By going alone their athletes did not get the benefit of riding in a pack and saving their legs for the run. 

This race was an incredible showcase of the sport and the MTR at its best. Until the finish no one knew who would win and the intrigue that came from having a favorite team crash out early, having the majority of the field together after the first leg, and the unpredictable river current was something Netflix itself couldn’t script. 

Some athletes will disagree, but in Paris, World Triathlon was able to snatch victory from the jaws of water quality defeat. The relay was exceptional, and the fast-moving current brought intrigue to the individual races not seen since the last Games. 

• But how will they capitalize on the post-Olympics ratings bump? Will they continue to offer the same races that more and more seem like a 10k run with a swim/bike warmup? 

• Or will they be bold and look to change their product to further challenge today’s athletes, and bring new energy to the sport. 

Only time will tell.

Say “Goodbye” to daily fatigue

How does 73-year-old outwork colleagues half his age? He says it's all thanks to an at-home "full body recharge" you can do from your kitchen.

Now, you might think frequently feeling tired is 'just part of getting older...'

But Dr. Gundry, a world-renowned cardiologist, believes you can feel just as energetic as a 20-year-old with this simple DIY trick. He says his discovery relies on a little-known food which is scientifically-backed to help "recharge" your body’s natural battery.

Learn More Here

FAVORITES

💉 Doping drama: Tomas Rodriguez Hernandez was the surprise winner of IRONMAN Texas earlier this year. Now, he has been suspended from competition after testing positive for the banned substance Clomifene which can be used to boost testosterone levels. [TRI247]

🏃 Tempo training: Tempo workouts are a great way to boost your training and help you level up your running. But how do you do them? And what pace should they be? Find out here. [220 Triathlon]

🧊 Ice ice baby: Ice slushies are great on a hot summer day, and turns out, they’re incredible for hot weather training and racing. Check out the benefits you can get from taking down some ice slushies before, during, and after hot weather training. [My Sports Science]

😡 Shocking mismanagement: After a viral infection took out a key member of Belgium’s triathlon mixed relay team, they had to withdraw from the Olympics. But did it have to be this way? This story explains the shocking reasons, including gender-based double standards for why Valerie Barthelemy was unable to help her teammates fight for gold in Paris. [3athlon]

TEMPO EXCLUSIVE ARCHIVE

• Caffeine, sleep, and spirulina? Yes, they are all performance enhancers proven to work!

• Are you making the four most-common nutrition mistakes?

LATEST EDITIONS

• Yee win’s men’s Olympic triathlon. And key open water skills!

• Beaugrand Golden in Paris. Plus: How to manage strength fatigue!

• Men’s Olympic Triathlon preview. Plus: Easy, but effective performance improvements!