France yesterday won a thrilling mixed triathlon test event for next year’s Tokyo Olympic Games, which passed off as planned in a welcome boost for organizers after difficulties with high temperatures and water pollution.
The swimming leg of the paratriathlon was scrapped on Saturday after water tests showed that E coli levels were more than double the acceptable standard and the running section of a women’s test event was curtailed on Thursday due to blistering temperatures, with French athlete Cassandre Beaugrand treated for heatstroke.
However, on Sunday in the Japanese capital, with the temperature a slightly cooler 30°C, the levels of bacteria fell to within permitted levels.
Photo: AFP
The mixed relay, a new event for the Tokyo Games involving two men and two women, was won by France in a photo-finish with Great Britain after a nail-biting final sprint.
Dorian Connix chased down Alex Yee on the final straight, despite being behind for most of the race, and breasted the tape fractionally ahead of his British competitor.
A powerful US team came third.
The format is much shorter than the individual race — each athlete completes a 300m swim, a 7.4km cycle and a 2km run before handing off to a teammate — making it less demanding in hot weather.
“I don’t think conditions were as bad as when we raced on Thursday,” South Africa’s Gillian Sanders said. “Personally, I don’t think I’ve acclimatized properly, because I haven’t been here for long. I’ve been here five days and I think you need two or three weeks.”
Battling the heat of the sweltering summer has become the main challenge for Tokyo organizers, who have otherwise won widespread praise, including from the International Olympic Committee, for their preparations.
Athletes would need to have greater access to water during the race, Games Operations Bureau deputy executive director Yasuo Mori said. “That alone would lower the risk of athletes getting heatstroke. That might be a realistic measure.”
The International Triathlon Union has examined increasing the number of water supply points and deploying medical staff every 500m along the course in case of an emergency, Mori added.
Aside from the problems at the triathlon, about a dozen people, including a spectator, were taken ill with suspected heatstroke last week at a rowing test event.
A construction worker also died on an Olympic site as Tokyo sweats through a prolonged and deadly heatwave.
The triathlon test events have courted controversy even without the heat — two British athletes were disqualified on Thursday for crossing the line first holding hands.
Jess Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown fell afoul of ITU rules stating that “athletes who finish in a contrived tie situation, where no effort to separate their finish times has been made, will be disqualified.”
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