Flora Duffy Clinches Women’s Olympic Triathlon Gold
It was the women’s turn to create a showcase on Tuesday 27 July at Odaiba Marine Park as Flora Duffy of Bermuda clinched the title of Olympic Triathlon Champion in Tokyo.
The conditions were of contrast to the mens race with downpours meaning it was going to be a case of just staying upright for many of the women come the bike section.
As the women dived off the pontoon it was a clean start and three groups were formed on the chase to the first bouy with Dutch athlete Maya Kingma and Britains Jess Learmonth going out hard.
Towards the end of the first lap of two, Learmonth had used her swim strength to pull just a few athletes away from the remaining field which included USA’s Katie Zaferes who many had doubted going into the race after a poor start to the 2021 season. Also using her swim prowess was the young 25 year old Brazilian Vittória Lopes who was sitting on Learmonth’s hips and this strong swim would pay dividence going onto the bike section later.
With gaps continuing to appear, Learmonth put the hammer down again setting an electrifying pace on the final 400 metres, taking six other athletes with her to the end of the swim section. As they exited the water there would be a gap of 1 minute 20 seconds from first to last.
A smooth T2 for all the athletes and a small breakaway was immediately formed. It was looking like it was going to be a tale of ‘the magnificent seven’ which included, Gerogia Taylor-Brown, Laura Lindemann, Summer Rappaport, Flora Duffy, Zaferes, Learmonth and Lopez.
It was treacherous conditions for the athletes who were being cautious around the corners but all athletes in the front pack were pulling turns and staying out of trouble.
In the second pack Switzerland’s Olympic champion from London, Nicola Spirig, was taking huge turns at the front but was was loosing ground every lap to the front group.
Come the third lap USA’s Rappaport who had been sitting at the back of the front group for the majority of the race so far was dropped through the tunnel section of the course falling swiftly back to the second group.
Over the next three laps the race remained the same with the front group continuing to put time into all three groups chasing behind. By lap six the gap to the second group was 1 minute 23 seconds and to group three over 2 minutes.
The end of lap six however, would see the Lopez unable to hold the wheels and unfortunately be dropped from the pack. It was a valiant effort by the Brazilian who will no doubt be back in the near future.
There was drama in the final 800m for Taylor-Brown who had been looking incredibly strong up until this point as she gained a flat tyre, but she would make it to the second transition.
The front four athletes powered into T2 and it was going to be a thrilling run between these five athletes over 10km to decide who would ultimately take the gold medal. Taylor-Brown was 30 seconds down at this point but was not done yet.
Straight onto the run and Bermuda’s Duffy took the lead with Zaferes on her feat and Lindemann and Learmonth dropping slightly behind. Taylor-Brown was flying on the first 1km of the run making up nearly all her lost time to Learmonth and quickly passing her at 1km mark.
After 1.5km Duffy moved clear of Zaferes looking to make her mark on the race and was looking comfortable. Taylor-Brown was showing sheer grit and determination to moved past Lindemann into the bronze medal spot and was on course to gain GB’s fourth medal of the games.
By the 5km mark Duffy was firmly in the lead with Zaferes 23 seconds down and a further 6 seconds to Taylor-Brown.
Through the start of the fourth lap, Taylor-Brown moved into second passing Zaferes. A remarkable comeback from the flat tyre which many would have thought would put her out of the running for a medal.
Down the finish straight Flora Duffy could take a sigh of relief as she had the gold firmly sealed taking the tape with a huge smile on her face with Georgia Taylor Brown bringing home the silver and an emotional Zaferes taking bronze.
It was sporting immortality for Flora Duffy who won Bermuda’s first ever gold medal and their first medal since Clarence Hill’s bronze in 1976.
