Tokyo Olympics: Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown wins silver in women’s triathlon
| Dates: 23 July-8 August Time in Tokyo: BST +8 |
| Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button and online; Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra and Sounds; live text and video clips on BBC Sport website and app. |
Great Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown produced a superb run to earn an Olympic silver medal in the women’s triathlon, fighting back from a bike puncture which left her well adrift of the leaders.
Taylor-Brown, 27, was 22 seconds behind a four-woman pack – which included British team-mate Jessica Learmonth – going into the final leg at Tokyo 2020.
But the 2020 world champion moved past Learmonth, who ended up finishing ninth, Germany’s Laura Lindemann and American Katie Zaferes to earn a place on the podium.
Bermuda’s Flora Duffy claimed a historic first gold medal for her nation after taking control of the race – which started in wet and wild conditions – with a dominant run.
The 33-year-old, who rejected the chance to represent Britain as a teenager, finished one minute and 15 seconds ahead of Taylor-Brown.
Zaferes, 32, won bronze as she finished more than a minute ahead of the rest of the field.
Vicky Holland, Britain’s third hopeful in the event, finished 13th after recovering from a crash on her bike.
Taylor-Brown’s gutsy recovery means Britain have their second triathlon medal of the Games, following Alex Yee’s silver in a punishing men’s triathlon on Monday.
Taylor-Brown was congratulated by her British team-mates in the post-race interview, with both Learmonth and Holland telling her how proud they were of her achievement.
Taylor-Brown’s hopes looked to be dashed when she suffered a flat back tyre less than a kilometre away from the end of the 40km bike ride.
Afterwards, she said she “panicked” when the incident happened.
“I didn’t know what to do, so I just rode out on the flat. It was panic mode but it paid off,” she told BBC Sport.
More to follow.
