She may have been one of the big two favourites for gold alongside eventual winner Cassandre Beaugrand but Britain’s Beth Potter was rightly proud of her bronze medal at the Paris Olympics.
It was eight years on since Potter’s previous Olympic appearance which came in the 10,000 metres on the track in Rio.
Her transition to triathlon has been a remarkable one and she was crowned World Champion for the first time last season.
‘I’ve come a long way’
Everything went largely to plan in Paris. A good swim was followed by a strong bike in what were brutal early-morning conditions – strong currents in the River Seine and then slippery cobbles and road markings after overnight downpours.
Starting the run there was everything to play for as Potter was in a select lead group of four alongside home favourites Beaugrand and Emma Lombardi as well as Swiss surprise package Julie Derron.
Beaugrand would kick clear on the fourth and final lap of the 10k run and Derron produced the race of her life so far to take silver just ahead of Potter.
And Potter told the BBC afterwards: “I’m just so happy. I was going for the gold, but Cassandre [Beaugrand] and Julie [Derron] were just too good for me today. I’m super happy to come away with a bronze.
“Eight years ago, I watched Vicky [Holland] and Non [Stanford] on Copacabana, and I was on the track team. So yeah, I’ve come a long way in eight years and I’m so happy to be here and win a bronze medal.”
‘Staying out of trouble’
On what the medal means, she added: “I don’t know. I feel like I did it for me, but I also did it for everyone that has helped me in the past eight years and believed in me from day one and yeah, it’s for them.”
Looking at the race – and referencing the testing conditions, she explained: “My coach told me to stay in the top five and try to stay towards the front, and I mainly stayed out of trouble.
“I got caught up behind a couple of crashes on the bike, but managed to stay upright and was just trying to be sensible and not doing anything mad. Just be safe.”
“It said it was going to be dry, but it was obviously very wet. I live and train in Leeds, so I’m used to those conditions, and I’ve done many sessions with the boys in the wet, so I was prepared. I just didn’t want to make any silly mistakes, so I just tried to stay as safe as possible.”
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