At the last qualifying race for the Olympic Mixed Team Relay competition in Paris this summer, Team Norway took an emphatic victory at the World Triathlon Cup in Huatulco to secure their spot on the start line.
In a race where the top two teams would secure a relay spot, plus two spots for the individual race in Paris, the stakes were high, with nine national federations making the trip over to Chahué bay beach.
The highs and lows of elite sport
In a race with so much riding on it, there was always going to be drama, but nobody would have been able to predict just how action packed the race was, with heartbreak and heroics as Norway and the Netherlands secured their Olympic ambitions.
Early on, a huge crash knocked Jamie Riddle and Team South Africa out of the race, as Riddle exited the water at the front, hit a manhole in the early stages of the bike and was forced to withdraw.
Team Canada, Norway and the Netherlands started the second leg together, with Norwegian Vettle Thorn passing over to Lotte Miller, who built up a solid lead over the rest of the field to hand over Casper Stornes.
Stornes, who raced the entirety of the third leg solo, consolidated the Norwegians lead, as Mathis Beaulieu (CAN) and Richard Murray (NED) in second and third were followed closely by Csongor Lehmann (HUN) to set up a thrilling finale.
Securing her team’s spot at the Olympics, Solveig Lovseth rounded out the final leg in style, much to the delight of her Norwegian teammates and Sporting Director Arild Tveiten, who set relay qualification as a primary objective for Paris after the Tokyo Olympics.
In second, Rachel Klamer (NED) was tagged in by husband Murray, and after losing ground on the bike to Hungary’s Zsanett Kuttor-Bragmayer, was able to run her way into the second spot and in an emotional finish, secured an Olympic berth for the Dutch team.
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