They always had the Olympic gold as their ultimate target, but the manner of Team Germany’s victory in Monday’s Triathlon Mixed Relay was nothing short of stunning, as the World Champions held off USA and Great Britain courtesy of an almighty Laura Lindemann sprint finish down the blue carpet of Pont Alexandre III bridge.

It was a nail-biting final lap on the run as the three teams came together and still too close to call for silver as Taylor Knibb and Beth Potter hit the line, the USA shown to edge the photo finish by the finest of margins to take a second successive Olympic silver, defending champions Great Britain the bronze.

Tim Hellwig had set the German squad on their way with a fiery opener with Alex Yee before Lisa Tertsch and Georgia Taylor-Brown locked into battle on leg two. Lasse Luhrs kept his team right in the hunt before tagging his final teammate into business and Lindemann once again showed her mettle to steer home the biggest win of them all.

LEG ONE: Spain make early charge

After his brilliant turn in the individual race, Alberto Gonzalez Garcia made the most of the start to put together another great swim and give Spain the early advantage, only to receive a penalty for swim behaviour that would nullify the advantage.

That eight-second gap was soon closed off by the likes of Alex Yee and Tim Hellwig on the early stages of their 7km bike, while Hayden Wilde and Max Studer had to dig in deep to get back into contention after poor swims.

As the athletes looked to come together, Pierre Le Corre and Hayden Wilde had a coming together that again set them back, this time decisively. Chain issues further derailed the French team’s ambitions, then Wilde smashed his face on his handlebars in T2 and ran the two laps with blood pouring down his face.

Yee and Hellwig found a gap by the bell of the run and pulled away from the chasers, Switzerland, Italy and Norway right in the hunt with Australia and Portugal on their heels, Seth Rider keeping USA bang in the race.

LEG TWO: Taylor-Brown vs Tertsch

As GB’s Georgia Taylor-Brown tagged into the action she had a precious four seconds over Lisa Tertsch and Germany, Netherlands and the chasers 15 seconds back, New Zealand now 30s off the front and Emma Lombardi solo +40s for France with a huge task ahead of her.

There was little to call between the 6 athletes chasing the two leaders, Julie Derron, Maya Kingma, Taylor Spivey taking up duties for Switzerland, Netherlands and USA 20 seconds back, Alice Betto flying for Italy.

It was Taylor-Brown out onto the bike for a solo 7km time trial session, Tertsch and Betto now together giving chase and, after one lap, the Brit had 15s over those two, Natalie Van Coevorden having bike issues that hampered Australian progress and she dropped back with Nicole Van Der Kaay 90s off the leaders.

Cue a remarkable run from Lisa Tertsch who reeled in Taylor-Brown in spectacular fashion and passed the Brit on the descent to the tag zone, only 20 seconds separating the top 11 athletes, Spivey and Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal going well for USA and Mexico.

LEG THREE: Pearson on the rampage

Handing over at the halfway mark, it was Lasse Luhrs for Germany and Samuel Dickinson picking up duties for GB, but the Brit was soon past Luhrs after gunning the short run to pontoon, Sylvain Fridelance 6s back for the Swiss after struggling to get up the ramp.

Leo Bergere passed Richard Murray in T1 to start giving the French fans some new hope, the gap back under a minute but not shrinking fast enough.

That was in part because Vasco Vilaca was driving a fierce group of four now on the hunt of the lead pair,  Norway and Kristian Blummenfelt, Manoel Messias and Brazil +40s, Bergere 55s, Matthew Hauser and Dylan McCullough 2m10 back and out of it.

Dickinson and Luhrs worked well together to carve out a healthy gap of 17s over Portugal, Swiss, USA and Italy, Crociani losing his shoe as he dismounted.

The gap was down to 13s at run bell as Pearson and Vilaca pushed but was back out to 20 seconds as Dickinson tagged Beth Potter with a lead into the final leg over Germany and Laura Lindemann.

LEG FOUR: Lindemann and Knibb reel in Potter

It was a great swim from Potter to gain two more seconds on Germany in the water for GB, before Taylor Knibb put on another incredible bike show to drag the USA right into the medal hunt.
First she pulled in the German, then that dup set their sights on Potter, and there was nothing the Brit could do as the three came together off the bikes for the final time. It was Potter onto the run first, but Knibb was in the mood for something special and soon hit the front.

Lindemann was far from finished, though, and built into the run, Potter dropping back into third but there was nothing to call between them as they made the final right turn and hit the blue carpet.

Then came another Lindemann surge and this time it was decisive, a roar at the tape as she knew what she had achieved, immediately to her left it was Knibb with the lunge to silver in a photo-finish and 0.005s triumph against Potter, a moment that will live long in the history of this fast and furious format. Cassandre Beaugrand brought France right back into it in fourth, Portugal taking fifth.

A final lap of an Olympic Games that will be talked about for years to come. When Alex Yee (GBR) took the bell he found himself 15 seconds off leader Hayden Wilde (NZL) and was staring at a second successive individual Olympic silver. What came next was nothing short of extraordinary, as Wilde started to feel the heat and the Brit slowly reeled him in, passing just before the final turn to the blue carpet and taking the tape and a second Games gold.

It was ecstasy for Yee, heartbreak for the New Zealander, while the crowd roared home Leo Bergere for a fine home-nation bronze.

“I gave my best account of myself on the run,” said Yee. “At 5k I was going through a real bad patch and honestly probably thought the race was over, but I wanted to give myself that one last chance and not give up on what I worked so hard for and what so many other people have worked with me to achieve. I owed it to them and myself to give it one last chance. Triathlon racing for me has always been about racing through three events, not just the one, so I was really proud to be an animator in the race, put on a show, and hopefully people were able to enjoy.”

“Through two to six kilometres I was probably riding a bit of a bad patch and maybe in my head I probably thought (aim for) second, with the guys closing quite rapidly behind, maybe thought that was the best thing for me. I just didn’t want to give up on myself, I really said to myself with 3km to go, I just want to give myself one more chance.”

Crociani and Hauser dart the swim

The currents in the Seine contributed to a hugely tough swim, Henri Schoeman gloriously unaware of anything further back as the Rio 2016 medallist found the clear water up ahead. It was no surprise to see Australian Matthew Hauser, French pair Pierre le Corre and Dorian Coninx and Schoeman’s compatriot Jamie Riddle going well, but Italy’s Crociani moved to the front as the pontoon drew closer for the second and final time.

Out of the water, Yee was 27 seconds off the front, Wilde a minute back just off Kristian Blummenfelt and Miguel Hidalgo, Csongor Lehmann effectively swimming blind after losing both hat and goggles on lap one.

Bike pack of 19 takes early control

Alex Yee was soon out front on the bike and making moves with the French trio, Dylan McCullough and Jamie Riddle. Wilde was working hard over the opening kilometres to drag himself back into the race and a strong group along with Blummenfelt, Vilaca and GB’s Samuel Dickinson 13 seconds off the pace.

Both groups were motoring, but the gap started to shrink over the closing stages as Blummenfelt really piled on the power and on the penultimate lap they merged into a 32-deep rolling train of absolute contenders for the medals.

Wilde detonates the run

Yee was onto the gas early on the run and throwing down the challenge to the rest of the field, Hauser and Vilaca looking to keep in touch, Lehmann holding on bravely after forcing his way back into the mix.

Rising star Alberto Gonzalez Garcia was motoring as Spain’s leading light, Leo Bergere once again quietly going about another superb run along with Le Corre, teammate Dorian Coninx dropping back, his Yokohama crash-hit preparations seeming to take a toll on his ability to stay the pace.

Up ahead, Hayden Wilde had pulled up alongside Yee seemingly ready to set up another game of cat-and-mouse with his best rival, but this time dropped the hammer immediately and managed to carve out a full 10 seconds over the Brit. The gap even grew marginally from there as Wilde hit his groove, Yee unable to respond but well ahead of the battle for third.

Yee keeps believing

Then came the unthinkable. Just as gold looked nailed on for the New Zealander, the heat and exertion took grip and Yee sensed blood. 8.5km out things started to shift on the Paris streets. Suddenly the gap was under ten seconds, then five as they hit the Saint Germain Boulevard for the final time.

Ahead of the final right turn onto the blue carpet, Yee was onto Wilde and past him, and from there it was no turning back. Yee ran a full 20 seconds faster than Wilde over the final 1.45km to pull clear and take the tape by 6 seconds from his devastated sparring partner, while Leo Bergere let out a roar as he secured the bronze ahead of Le Corre.

Vasco Vilaca edged a massive sprint finish against his young teammate Ricardo Batista, Matt Hauser with seventh, Gonzalez, Tyler Mislawchuk and Miguel Hidalgo closing out the top 10.

HAYDEN WILDE (silver)
“(The swim) was fantastic. It was actually harder than last year (during the test event). Obviously, the current was a lot stronger. It was technically the hardest swim we’ve ever done. Obviously, by the time, you can see we were in there for a few extra minutes, so that was really tough. You kind of had to take your own line every time. And I was trying to go as far right as possible and came out in a really nice position where I was kind of satisfied with.”

“It was just that positioning was key for that swim, and I got myself into a good spot and into a good chase group. Obviously, we caught up ... and that’s a big thanks to my teammate. He came back, he waited, and he bridged that gap and sacrificed his race. So yeah, that guy deserves the keys to New Zealand because he was the one who helped me get the silver medal.”

LEO BERGERE (bronze)
“It’s historic, today French triathlon has achieved something exceptional. It’s 10 to 15 years of collective work from the staff, the federation, and many athletes. I was really focusing on not letting myself get distracted by the public, who were absolutely fabulous today. But when I let out my joy after the last turn, when I realised I had made the podium, it was a moment I’ll remember all my life. “I’m so happy to do it with my loved ones at the finish line. It’s a moment I got to share with them and it’s indescribable.”

“I’ve always tried to climb the ladder step by step, to not look too far ahead and to concentrate on the task ahead each year. And little by little - with hard work, and a great team around me - I managed to get it done.”

Full results here.

For triathlon, the party has come to an end. Across three titanic races in Paris, there were a myriad of moments that will be remembered for years to come and no shortage of memories that athletes and fans alike will carry with them. Before we move on from the drama of this Olympic Games, we will recount ten of the best triathlon moments in Paris. Each was memorable in its own way; from the funny to the inspirational to the downright jaw-dropping, the triathlon moments of Paris had a bit of everything.

10) The Goggles

This was the last thing he wanted to happen. At the first buoy in the swim, Csongor Lehmann lost his goggles and had to take on the rest of the first discipline in a state of near-blindness. Whereas the rest of the field swam with their hat and goggles affixed to their head, Lehmann stood out in the water and led some onlookers to wonder first whether a spectator had jumped into the river with the athletes and second how this person was keeping up with the field.

Lehmann nonetheless battled back from the worst possible start to his Olympic debut. After a tumultuous afternoon that included comebacks and setbacks, fast splits and a penalty, the Hungarian athlete ended up in 11th place at the finish line. After winning a maiden WTCS medal in Cagliari and then claiming gold at the Tiszaujvaros World Cup, he may have hoped for more in Paris. Nevertheless, his goggle-less challenge made for an unorthodox morning.

9) The Viral Moment

Tyler Mislawchuk may have imagined himself going viral in Paris in several ways. Foremost among them would have been with a starring role and a high finish in the men’s race and during the early stages of the run he found himself in a fight for the bronze medal with home favourites Leo Bergere and Pierre Le Corre. After years of injury-driven hardship, the Canadian athlete looked to have hit his stride perfectly.

In the end Mislawchuk settled for 9th place. However, it was the sight of him losing his breakfast at the finish line that set him apart from his peers. Across the articles and memes that have followed, he has certainly become one of the faces – albeit a slightly worse for wear one – of the sport. It might not have been quite how he expected to catch the eyes of the media, but Mislawchuk certainly demonstrated the simple brutality of an Olympic triathlon in one crisp moment.

8) The Camaraderie

Emotions run high at the Olympic Games. Years of preparation have gone into qualifying, the event itself is overwhelming and the pressure of the competition is the most intense of the athletes’ careers. It is therefore no surprise that the finish line provides a moment of pure release (and not just in the Tyler Mislawchuk fashion).

One such moment that caught the eye was at the conclusion of the women’s race. Emma Lombardi had crossed the line in 4th place, a remarkable achievement for an athlete so young. Soon after, Georgia Taylor-Brown made it home in 6th place. Although she did not defend her silver medal from Tokyo, Taylor-Brown’s result capped a remarkable comeback from an extremely challenging 2023. Whatever her own feelings, she moved to comfort Lombardi who had come through the vortex of pressure and hope and expectation that accompanied her own race to narrowly miss a medal. Such selfless and uplifting instances of camaraderie could be found across the races and the exchange between Taylor-Brown and Lombardi was a moment of one world champion of recent times offering support to someone that may perhaps inherit the mantle in years to come.

7) The Happy Couple

Some sporting history goes beyond the pure numbers of the race. In the Mixed Team Relay, Rachel Klamer and Richard Murray created a unique moment as they became the first married couple to compete in the same Olympic relay. In the absence of any similar power couple triathlon marriages in the near future, it could be some time until the feat is repeated.

The Dutch team qualified for Paris at the last-minute after Klamer delivered a stupendous anchor leg at the qualifier in Huatulco. In Paris, the pair followed the same order as in Huatulco with Murray handing over from the third leg to Klamer on the final leg which saw the team finish 10th. As it happened, Klamer also overhauled Solveig Løvseth, handing her team a dose of revenge after the Norwegian quartet won the Huatulco qualifier.

6) The Big Ol’ Head

I never knew I needed to see a giant cut-out of Pierre Le Corre’s head until I saw it. And it was magnificent. As the athletes zipped around the streets of Paris, there was the head of Pierre watching over them like some smiling, benevolent deity. This, though, was merely one example of the fantastic support provided by the immense home crowds.

Paris turned out in droves to support the French teams across the three triathlon events and their cheers chased the athletes like a wave that refused to break. Fans from across the world also made sure to urge on their stars and a special shout out also must go to the Chile fans – who also had their own cut-outs of Diego Moya – as they transformed their small corner of the course into little Santiago. Across the board, the fans in Paris were brilliant and played a huge role in making the Games so special.

5) The Return

Luisa Baptista harboured dreams of going to Paris. Based on the Olympic rankings at the end of 2023, the 2022 Americas champion and South American Games gold medallist had a great shot of qualifying for the Games. Then came the crash.

In late December of last year, Baptista was struck by a motorcyclist while cycling in Sao Paulo. The individual involved fled the scene. Baptista was rushed to hospital and treated for multiple fractures and injuries to her lungs and, in that moment, more was on the line than her triathlon career. Seven months later, while the Olympic women’s race took place, Baptista was there to watch. Although she did not take to the start line herself, she made it to Paris and her recovery has proven every bit as inspirational as any of the action at the Olympic Games.

4) The Dream

There were some nervous twitches on Tuesday morning when the men’s race was postponed. If I quote some of the comment sections from social media this article won’t be quite so family-friendly and I imagine the same would be true were we to take some snippets from the Olympic organisers’ emails. Nevertheless, it all came together and the racing took place as planned.

Some things are bigger than sport and the efforts to regenerate the Seine transcend triathlon and the Games itself. Indeed, the aspiration of cleaning a river of which we have already heard plenty was perhaps more ambitious than any single dream at the Games. As much as we love triathlon, over a billion euros was not spent so a couple of races could take place. Rather, triathlon simply provided the stage upon which Paris showed that, in life as in sport, we can dare to take on the impossible if we only allow ourselves to dream big enough.

3) The Photo

Has there ever been a finish quite like it in triathlon? Three teams could have won gold in the Mixed Team Relay as the race came down to less than a second. The women’s race at London 2012 had a similarly fraught finish but only two women contended for the gold. The WTCS Final in Pontevedra last year had a three-way sprint for the win but it did not carry the same weight of each athlete gunning for Olympic gold. Moreover, two of the three medallists in Pontevedra were not in contention for the world title. The relay in Paris stood apart.

Each of the medallists had stories to tell too. The world champions Germany stormed to gold and handed a degree of justice to Lisa Tertsch and Laura Lindemann after they crashed out of medal contention in the women’s race. Taylor Knibb earned a second silver medal in the relay after a barnstorming anchor leg while Alex Yee and Georgia Taylor-Brown completed the Olympics with their bronze, giving them a full set of medals. Only their compatriot Jonathan Brownlee had accomplished the same feat hitherto. The biggest story of them all, though, was the photo finish. Triathlon has never seen anything like it and a strong case can be made for it being the best triathlon finish ever.

2) The Comeback

Between the gasps as Alex Yee reeled in Hayden Wilde from a seemingly hopeless position in the men’s race, there was a faint but discernible collective groan from journalists around the world. Wilde looked so assured of the win with a kilometre to go that the headlines and introductions acclaiming him as the Olympic champion were already written. And then Yee made them delete the whole thing.

A 14 second gap with one lap of the run remaining should have been too much to overcome. Wilde looked better than he ever has before and seemed invincible. With his watch in hand, the New Zealander seemed to have architected the grandest of Olympic triumphs. Even the camera crew had decided the action was elsewhere and had cut away. The moment in which Yee closed in on Wilde and then passed his rival will thus go down in Olympic history as one of the most unforgettable climaxes to a race.

1) The Roar

It was volcanic. After the delay of the men’s race, the treacherous slick conditions of the road, the whittling down of the lead group on the run, and then the utter tension of the final 5km on the run, Cassandre Beaugrand handed the French crowd the moment of the release they did not simply want but rather craved.

Julie Derron had set the pace for most of the run while the reigning world champion Beth Potter lurked ominously. However Beaugrand struck for home and the roar that followed could only be suitably measured on the Richter scale. It was the collective realisation that France was about to win its first ever individual Olympic medal in triathlon and that its colour would be gold. It was the collective realisation that they were seeing greatness unfold. It was everything France hoped it would be and more. Sometimes, the moment you win is not when you cross the finish line and no one showed that more than Cassandre Beaugrand in Paris.

On Sunday morning, 4 August, the Pontoon Draw for the Paris 2024 Olympic Triathlon Mixed Relay took place, the teams choosing their starting spot on the pontoon for the huge final triathlon action of these Games on 5 August.

Even with the swim trimmed right back to a short, sharp 300m to get each leg underway, the start spot could be critical, and it was a coach from each of the 16 nations lining up who selected, in order of Relay Olympic Ranking. Full start lists can be found here.

That left defending champions Great Britain to pick first, opting for the far left of the pontoon, World Champions Germany taking spot three, hosts France electing to go between the two and New Zealand in spot four next to Switzerland. For those four nations, all six individual medallists are set to take part, a huge task for the other nations to put themselves in relay medal contention?

There remains a window for changes to the final composition of the teams up to 5.45am on race day, but the provisional lists throw up some mouth-watering match ups across the four legs.

Yee vs Wilde part deux?

First up the prospect of last Wednesday’s Olympic Champion Alex Yee and silver medallist Hayden Wilde going shoulder-to-shoulder once again in the hope of setting their teams on a path to more glory.

It was Yee who brought home the gold in Tokyo, but with that task charged with the women for the Paris Olympic cycle, he now switches to scene-setter for GB. Wilde will hope he can detonate another all-in run and hand over a gap to Ainsley Thorpe, Yee looking set to tag off to another Tokyo 2020 star Georgia Taylor-Brown. 

Meanwhile, France currently call upon Pierre Le Corre for their first leg. The man who finished one spot behind bronze medalist teammate Leo Bergere on Wednesday doesn’t have a weak segment and doesn’t know anything other than all-in, gutsy racing and he could set the tone for magic from France.

Could Beaugrand make history again in Paris?

And magic for France may mean the dream scenario of Cassandre Beaugrand coming over the bridge with a lead ready to send Paris wild for the second time in less than a week after her individual race fireworks. As it stands, she would pick up from Bergere for the anchor leg, silver medallist Beth Potter will do so from Samuel Dickinson for GB and for the current World Champions, Laura Lindemann will hope that she can steer Germany home for the gold.

Elsewhere, women’s silver medallist Julie Derron goes second for Switzerland as they mount a challenge for a first Olympic Mixed Relay medal. That second leg also sees Lisa Tertsch go for Germany, Taylor Spivey for USA, Emma Lombardi for France and Maya Kingma for Netherlands.

Alongside Dickinson and Bergere, some huge third-leg battles should include Portugal’s Vasco Vilaça up against Kristian Blummenfelt for Norway, German Lasse Luhrs, Australia’s Matthew Hauser, New Zealand’s Dylan McCullough, USA’s Morgan Pearson and Switzerland’s Simon Westermann.

Mouthwatering indeed. Tune in at 8am on Monday 5 August. Check local listings for details.

After Wednesday and Day 5 of the Games was renamed Triathlon Day at the Paris 2024 Olympics, on 5 August, 15 teams will be ready to throw down some high-octane swim-bike-run entertainment all over again, when only the second ever Olympic Mixed Relay gets underway at 8am.

It’s a short, sharp, scintillating course, with the men out first and the women taking it home. Each leg consists of a single 300m swim lap, transitioning to a 7km bike over two laps and concluding with a 1.8km run before tagging, with the winning time of the Test Event clocking in at just over 1h12m.

The hosts France and defending champions Great Britain will be among the favourites with two individual medals apiece, but much has changed in the three years since Tokyo 2020 and the medals look wide open this time around.

While many of the team members can be confirmed for those nations with the minimum 2 men and 2 women qualified, final line ups and the order of racing can be submitted by 5.45am on the morning of the race. 

Hosts with the mosts

Where do you start with Team France? Dominant in the World Championships for nearly a decade with five world titles since 2015, on the women’s side they’ll be packing the newly minted Olympic Champion and last year’s Series bronze medallist in Cassandre Beaugrand and Emma Lombardi.

On the men’s side, Olympic bronze medallist and 2022 World Champion Leo Bergere and fourth-placed Pierre Le Corre provide plenty of firepower too. On paper, they look unstoppable. Lombardi took the anchor leg when the hosts claimed silver at the Test Event, but surely the prospect of Beaugrand coming over the Alexandre III bridge to take the tape and a second gold would be too delicious to deny.

New look line up for defending champions

Team GB have three women to call upon for the two spots, Beth Potter and Georgia Taylor-Brown the Paris 2024 bronze medallist and Tokyo 2020 silver medallists respectively. Kate Waugh took 15th on Wednesday in Paris and would love a shot at a medal of her own.

Olympic Champion Alex Yee and his Wednesday wingman Samuel Dickinson are the men on the GB mission. It was Yee who took home the gold in Tokyo with the anchor leg, Dickinson who helped GB take silver in the 2022 World Championships and secure their place in Paris. His key role as support for Yee in the individual saw him bow out on the run and he will undoubtedly be hungry and all in for his shot at an Olympic medal.

World Champions Germany with point to prove

The only team other than France to qualify three men and three women, Germany will go into the Mixed Relay with a point to prove after leaving the individual races frustrated by crashes that stalled what looked set to be serious medal charges.

Laura Lindemann and Lisa Tertsch have been integral in helping bring home two Mixed Relay world titles in the last three years, Tim Hellwig, Jonas Schomburg and Lasse Luhrs will be vying to join them in the squad. Undoubtedly one of the favourites for gold.

Team USA ready to slay?

After a tough day in the individual races, the USA men and women will be out for glory in the relay. Seth Rider was going well in the front pack before fading on the run, Morgan Pearson blasted the run but was by then too far back to impact the race. Taylor Spivey’s top 10 was the bright spot after Kirsten Kasper came off twice and Taylor Knibb never recovered from a two-minute deficit out of the water. Does redemption await in the team format? Knibb and Pearson both starred in that Olympic silver in Tokyo and will need to do so again in Paris over the sharpest format going.

Team New Zealand will fancy their chances of a medal after back-to-back world championship podiums alongside Switzerland, and both pack individual silver medallists in their ranks in the form of kiwi Hayden Wilde and Swiss star Julie Derron.

Portugal’s chances of a medal are on the rise, with the ever-impressive Vasco VIlaca and Melanie Santos now bolstered by the rising stars of Ricardo Batista and Maria Tomé, both of whom impressed hugely on their Olympic debuts to finish 6th and 1th respectively.

Dutch team on a tear

The team that finished one place above them in that Japan classic three years ago was the Netherlands, who drafted in Richard Murray and the firing youngster Mitch Kolkman from opposite ends of the experience spectrum to great effect at the Olympic Qualification Event Huatulco to secure their team’s place here in Paris.

Team Italy can count on their young guns Alessio Crociani and Bianca Seregni to set the pace in the water, Spain will hope Alberto Gonzalez Garcia can repeat his fireworks to steer the team. Norway make their Olympic Relay debut with the prospect of a rare appearance in the format for Kristian Blummenfelt and Brazil could pack a punch with plenty of pace in the ranks.

Completing the 15-deep line up of teams will be Brazil, including young gun Miguel Hidalgo and Mexico, complete with their latest star Rosa Maria Tapia Vidal and the Austrians with plenty of experience on the biggest stage in Lisa Perterer and Julia Hauser.

The stage is set for triathlon to hit the Paris 2024 headlines again at 8am on 5 August, when the second ever Olympic Mixed Relay takes to the streets of the City of Light.

Added to the Olympic programme for the first time at Tokyo 2020, the Mixed Relay World Championships stretching back to 2009 when Switzerland won the first of their two titles, the format’s de facto home established as the WTCS Hamburg weekend.

Team GB are the defending Olympic Champions. Team Germany are the reigning champions of the world. France have won five titles since 2015. The medal contenders for Paris 2024 run far deeper than those three nations.

After the exertions of battling against not just each other but the Seine River current in the individual race, the athletes will be glad to face just a one-lap, 300m swim to get each leg underway.

At 8am, the 16 qualified teams will line up on the pontoon under the Alexandre III bridge, the men going out first. The 300m swim complete – with the current out, against back – it is up the 36 steps onto the bridge where transition awaits.

From there, it’s a flat and full-on 7km bike, split into two laps, traversing the river and the crowd-lined transition twice on each and passing down the Champs Elysees and Saint Germain Boulevard.

Bikes racked in T2, the run is a simple square across Alexandre III bridge, along to Invalides bridge and back twice, 900m per loop. The second time, the athletes will peel off the road early and down the snaking ramp beside the Seine to tag their teammate.

Four legs, 3 medals, one Olympic champion team. It’s going to get rowdy out there in the French capital from 8am local time on Monday 5 August. Check local listings for where to watch live.