Laura Lindemann won a thrilling sprint finish to give Germany gold in the Olympic triathlon mixed relay on Monday, outkicking the United States and Britain after highly-fancied France were scuppered by a bike crash on the first of four legs.
There was a photo finish for second place, with officials initially announcing Britain as runners-up but minutes later they announced a switch, with the US getting the silver and Britain the bronze.
Alex Yee, winner of the individual race last week and who anchored Britain to relay gold in Tokyo, gave the defending champions an early lead with a scorching run, with France 40 seconds back in last place after Pierre le Corre was brought down on the bike leg.
Georgia Taylor-Brown, also part of the Tokyo gold-medal winning team, was caught by Germany’s Lisa Tertsch at the halfway point but Sam Dickinson handed individual bronze medallist Beth Potter a slight lead.
Potter, Lindemann and a charging Taylor Knibb came off the 7km bike leg together but the German found just enough at the end.