GB’s Potter wins Olympic triathlon bronze in Paris

Great Britain’s Beth Potter battled to a superb Olympic triathlon bronze after the race was cleared to go ahead at Paris 2024 following days of uncertainty over the water quality in the River Seine.

Reigning world champion Potter, 32, held on for third after emerging in a lead group of four on the concluding run phase as Cassandre Beaugrand delivered gold for host nation France.

Beaugrand, 27, crossed the line in one hour 54 minute 55 seconds, six seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Julie Derron.

Potter, eight years after she finished 34th in the women’s 10,000m at Rio 2016, was nine seconds further back, while British team-mate Georgia Taylor-Brown finished sixth.

“I’m so happy. I was going for the gold but Cassandre and Julie were just too good for me and I’m super happy to come away with the bronze,” Potter told BBC Sport.

“I’ve come a long way in eight years. I did it for me but I also did it for everyone who has helped me in eight years and believed in me from day one. It is for them back home as well.”

The men’s race was postponed by 24 hours on Tuesday after the water quality in the River Seine failed to meet required standards following heavy rainfall.

But both events were cleared to take place on Wednesday morning after water analyses, received at 02:20 BST (03:20 local time), were deemed compliant by World Triathlon.

The men’s race, featuring Great Britain’s Alex Yee and Sam Dickinson, is scheduled to begin at 09:45 BST.

It was one of the most remarkable moments in recent triathlon history which helped inspire Potter to make the switch to the multi-sport event.

When she watched as Alistair Brownlee helped carry struggling younger brother Jonny over the finish line in a dramatic conclusion to the 2016 world series, she knew where her future lay.

Moving to Leeds to train with the Brownlees, former physics teacher Potter has maintained an upward trajectory and won her first major medal with Commonwealth bronze in 2022 before securing a first world title in 2023.

With that success asserting her as one of the Olympic gold medal favourites in Paris, Potter lined up with the additional confidence gained by winning the Olympic test event here in Paris last August.

In the end, with her chances of victory gone, the Briton gauged her final effort to perfection to outlast French athlete Emma Lombardi and secure her first Olympic medal.

Defending champion Flora Duffy, of Bermuda, dominated the opening 1500m swim which saw many athletes struggle against the river’s current.

But she faded after a chaotic 40km bike leg, which saw several falls on roads greased by morning rain.

Duffy ended fifth, behind an intense race for gold between a quartet of leaders on the 10km run, with the eventual medallists joined by Lombardi.

And, as Beaugrand eventually broke the resistance of her gold medal rivals to delight the huge home crowds lining the streets, it was Derron and Potter who were able to find the strength at the conclusion of a gruelling race to make the podium.

Tokyo runner-up Taylor-Brown ended one minute 25secs off the medals, while Olympic debutant Kate Waugh was 15th.