The inaugural Olympic Triathlon Mixed Relay exceeded the promised excitement of the two men, two women teams at the sprint distance. Great Britain, the United States and France battled relentlessly to the finish on a sunny day in Tokyo.
When the chaos was over, Alex Yee of the mighty Brits jetted away to the gold medal. Morgan Pearson of the U.S. shocked commentators by passing two-time World Champion Vincent Luis of France for the silver. The Great Britain quartet finished in 1:23:41 with a 14 seconds margin over the U.S. team and 23 seconds over the three-time Mixed Relay World Champions from France.
Leadoff Great Britain competitor Jessica Learmonth (21:16) kept up with the breakaway quartet of Katie Zaferes (21:14) , Laura Lindemann (21:15) and Rachel Klamer (21:18) on the first leg as the quartet opened up a significant lead on the chasers. Jonny Brownlee (20:03) then extended the lead on Leg Two by breaking free from Kevin McDowell (20:14), Marten Van Riel (20:08) and other chasers during the two lap run. Georgia Taylor-Brown (21:54) did her best to maintain the Great Britain's lead as she out split Taylor Knibb (22:06) by 12 seconds. Knibb managed to close the gap during both the bike and run, but the margin was 9 seconds between Great Britain and the United States before the anchoring legs of Alex Yee (GBR), Morgan Pearson (U.S.), and Vincent Luis (France).
Yee maintained his gap to Pearson during the swim. However, Luis closed an eleven second margin to the U.S. and exited the swim with Pearson. On the bike, Luis attacked Pearson , while managing to close onto Yee's wheel. Luis made the catch, and then attempted to break away from Yee. While the two leaders were playing zig-zag and cat and mouse across the wide roads, Pearson rode a direct route through the apexes and soon arrived on the wheels of the leaders just as they entered transition. Luis had brought France back into the hunt for victory, but the effort on the bike would turn out to be costly.
Once the 2-kilometer run started, Yee drew away from Luis in short order. Pearson, the former cross-country champ from Colorado, took advantage of Luis’ extra efforts on the bike, closing the gap to the reigning ITU World Champion and passing him toward the end of lap one. Pearson continued to extend his lead on Luis throughout lap two, giving him nearly a 10 second gap on Vincent Luis at the finish line.
After years of disappointing results, Jonny Brownlee had reason to celebrate a medal that completed a career bronze (London) silver (Rio) and gold (Tokyo) full house. “To be able to do that and win Olympic gold with this team after everything that has happened is so special,” Brownlee told World Triathlon media. “It’s a whirlwind. It was hard work but so worth it. It [Tokyo with no spectators] was slightly different to the one million people in Hyde Park - but this was special in its own way. We’re Olympic Champions! It’s so good to have this team around me. I’m too excited to think about crying!”
Alex Yee was a bit calmer – after all this was his second Olympic medal of the week.
“These guys had done great legs and put me in such a position that I just had to do everything to stay there,” he told World Triathlon media. “It’s surreal. That was 2km of pain, the longest of my life. I wanted to go hard at the start because I had a little gap.”
Katie Zaferes, who had the fastest first leg in the field (21:14), exulted in the camaraderie and excitement of team triathlon.
"Being able to share this with the world is really awesome," she told USA Triathlon media. "We love this event, we know how exciting it is. We know how much it takes to have four athletes show up at the same time, on the same day and be ready to go, especially after all of us racing our own individual races. I’m getting chills just talking about it,"
Zaferes added, "Having the camaraderie and racing as a team just gives you so much energy and it makes it even more significant. You’re literally putting everything out there. When you race for yourself it’s one thing, but when other people are relying on you it’s a whole other feeling. It brings a pressure, but when you nail it, it’s absolutely incredible."
Morgan Pearson found today's silver medal offered redemption after he finished a disappointing 42nd in the men's individual race. In the Mixed Relay, Pearson's 20:21 final leg was second best to Vincent Luis's (20:18) and faster that Yee's 20:28 mark.
Pearson recounted to USA Triathlon media how he regained his confidence after his 42nd place in the individual: "It was in the back of my head. It took away my confidence. I asked the team, ‘Can you tell me that you believe in me?’ Just because I needed it. They did that. Maybe they thought I was joking, but I wasn’t. I needed them to reassure me and it really helped. By the time the race started, I was pretty confident," Pearson said.
Pearson, 27, also wanted to make his brother Andrew, who passed away in March, proud.
"This is for my brother and my family. They’ve been the No. 1 support for me. My mom is my No. 1 fan. Growing up, going to cross country races, she’s like hiding in the woods in random places just so she can cheer for me," Pearson said. "I hope they’re proud of me. I hope my older brother is watching and proud of me, too."
Kevin McDowell had lots of reasons to be proud, including his 4th-best 20:14 Leg One split. "Back in 2010, I was hoping the Mixed Relay would one day be in the Olympic Games and if it was I wanted to be there," McDowell told USA Triathlon media. In 2011 he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and took six months off to complete chemotherapy. A year later, he returned to elite competition, making his senior-level World Cup debut. He recently celebrated being 10 years cancer-free.
"To share (this experience) with these people ... I have no words," he told USA Triathlon media. "These are incredible humans."
McDowell completed his leg 9 seconds behind Brownlee, who tagged Georgia Taylor-Brown, the silver medalist in the women’s triathlon, who then extended Britain's lead. McDowell tagged Knibb, who used her strong bike skills to pull away from France's Cassandre Beaugrand and give Pearson a shot at chasing Britain.
Olympic Mixed Relay Triathlon
Tokyo, Japan
July 30, 2021
4 x Swim 300m / Bike 6.8 k / Run 2k
1. Team Great Britain 1:23:41
Jessica Learmonth 21:16
Jonathan Brownlee 20:03
Georgia Taylor-Brown 21:54
Alex Yee 20:28
2. Team United States 1:23:55
Katie Zaferes 21:14
Kevin McDowell 20:14
Taylor Knibb 22:06
Morgan Pearson 20:21
3. Team France 1:24:04
Leonie Periault 21:40
Dorian Coninx 20:09
Cassandre Beaugrand 21:57
Vincent Luis 20:18
4. Team Netherlands 1:24:34
Rachel Klamer 21:18
Marco Van Der Stel 20:23
Maya Kingma 22:25
Jorik Van Egdom 20:28
5. Team Belgium 1:24:36
Claire Michel 21:50
Marten Van Riel 20:08
Valerie Barthelemy 22:08
Jelle Geens 20:30
6. Team Germany 1:24:40
Laura Lindemann 21:15
Jonas Schomburg 20:27
Anabel Knoll 22:24
Justus Nieschlag 20:34
7. Team Switzerland 1:25:27
Jolanda Annen 22:00
Andreas Salvisberg 20:23
Nicola Spirig 22:24
Max Studer 20:40
8. Team Italy 1:26:23
Verena Steinhauser 21:48
Gianluca Pozzatti 20:25
Alice Betto 22:45
Delian Stateff 212:25
9. Team Australia 1:26:27
Ashleigh Gentle 22:09
Matthew Hauser 20:56
Emma Jeffcoat 22:57
Jacob Birtwhistle 20:25
10. Team Spain 1:26:31
Anna Godoy Contreras 22:08
Fernando Alarza 20:33
Miriam Casillas Garcia 23:22
Mario Mola 20:28
11. Team Hungary 1:26:43
Zsanett Bragmayer 22:04
Bence Bicsak 20:37
Zsofia Kovacs 23:06
Tamas Toth 20:56
12. Team New Zealand1:26:53
Ainsley Thorpe 22:42
Tayler Reid 20:38
Nicole Van Der Kaay 22:58
Hayden Wilde 20:35
13. Team Japan 1:27:02
Yuko Takahashi 21:57
Kenji Nener 20:30
Niina Kishimoto 22:57
Makoto Odakura 21:38
14. Team Russian Olympic Committee 1:27:13
Alexandra Razarenova 22:03
Dmitry Polyanskiy 20:47
Anastasia Gorbunova 23:29
Igor Polyanskiy 20:54
15. Team Canada 1:27:21
Amelie Kretz 22:20
Matthew Sharpe 21:31
Joanna Brown 22:40
Alexis Lepage 20:50
16. Team Mexico 1:28:53
Cecilia Perez 22:39
Crisanto Grajales 20:42
Claudia Rivas 23:54
Irving Perez 21:38
17. Team Austria DNS
