Kiwi’s triathlon chances slip away
Thorpe thwarted by lane markings as Bermuda star makes short work of field
From glory to grazes, New Zealand’s fortunes at the triathlon over 24 hours couldn’t have stood in sharper contrast. Whereas on Monday, Hayden Wilde swam, cycled and ran to a brilliant bronze, yesterday Ainsley Thorpe crashed out on the first lap of the cycle leg and Nicole van der Kaay finished 29th, 7m 50s behind the winner, Flora Duffy of Bermuda, who won in 1h 55m 36s.
While the men had to put up with a rogue broadcast launch that caused an embarrassing false start, the women were faced with more longterm issues, wild weather that delayed the start by 15 minutes and left the bike course a permanent hazard.
Seven riders crashed and withdrew, including Thorpe, 23, who slid and fell on a left-hand turn made treacherous by lane markings.
Thorpe and van der Kaay were out of contention by that stage because a leading group of seven, reduced to five by the end of the leg, were out in front and stayed there. The medals were always going to be divided among them, with the race essentially boiling down to a 10km foot race between Duffy, Laura Lindemann, Katie Zaferes, Jessica Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown.
Duffy won in dominating fashion, the two-time world champion bringing her tiny island nation their first Olympic gold medal and its first medal of any kind since 1976.
Brit Taylor-Brown finished a distant second, 1m 14s behind, and Zaferes (US) third a further 13s back.
Duffy is a two-time former world triathlon series champion. She’s competing in her fourth Olympics and is one of just two athletes representing Bermuda in Tokyo.
The 33-year-old Duffy had never finished higher than eighth in her previous three Olympic triathlons.
Bermuda hadn’t won a medal at the Olympics since boxer Clarence Hill’s heavyweight boxing bronze at Montreal in 1976.
The Kiwi women were always a long shot to feature in the individual. They have their eyes on a mixed relay prize, a goal that will seem in reach after the heroics of Wilde, and to a lesser extent Tayler Reid, who finished a meritorious 18th.
The question may be whether Thorpe has superficial bumps and bruises or more troubling injuries.