They still held hands, beamed wide smiles, and stepped onto the podium as one. Not for gold, despite leading for the majority of the race, or for silver, despite being initially declared runners-up, but for bronze, third in a three-team sprint finish separated by one-hundredth of a second on the line. A golden morning in Paris turned into devastation for Great Britain, as the reigning champions in the triathlon mixed relay lost their crown and settled for the minor medal by the barest of margins.

The result was changed after an investigation. A review of the photo finish quickly found Beth Potter was beaten to second by the indefatigable American Taylor Knibb after Germany’s Laura Lindemann sprinted to the gold that had been within Team GB’s grasp for so long. They had set out hard, with Alex Yee, Georgia Taylor-Brown, Sam Dickinson and then Potter stretching Great Britain’s lead to 12 seconds before the world champion was reeled in on the bike and fell behind on the run.

Potter tried to find a late surge but Lindemann was too strong, earning world champions Germany the Olympic title. “Photo finish” flashed up next to Great Britain and the United States but someone controlling the scoreboard was too quick in declaring the result. As the teams were lining up in the wrong places for the medal presentation, World Triathlon reviewed the photo finish and found Knibb had crossed the line first with her chest. When Team GB saw the evidence, they had no complaints about the decision.

But gold had still slipped away. Fighting on alone at the front, Potter was chased down by Knibb and Lindemann before having to go again when her legs were blowing up. She emptied the tank but came up short. The silver that flashed up when she collapsed after crossing the line was initially solace before it was quickly taken away. “I thought we might have had the silver,” Potter shrugged. “We got a bronze but it’s still a medal.”

It was Great Britain’s third in the triathlon, following Yee’s gold and Potter’s bronze in the individual races. Paris got the shots of the city it wanted, as the course twisted past landmarks, and then the finish it dreamt of to its mixed relay. However, this has been a highly controversial event, with training sessions cancelled due to failed water quality tests. Belgium didn’t make the start line, withdrawing after an athlete fell ill this week after competing in the women’s event.

The thousands who lined the Seine from sunrise saw France’s hopes disappear within minutes. The hosts fielded a formidable line-up, anchored by their new Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand. The course was short and sharp, ideal for the sprinters but less so for those who prefer the longer distances in the individual events. The dip in the Seine was just over 300 metres, before 7km on the bike and a 1.8km run to finish, but it meant the slightest mistake could ruin a race.

As Yee battled for position on his bike, within the pack that thundered over the cobbles, Great Britain were handed a golden opportunity. Down went the hosts as New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde, beaten by Yee in his sensational sprint finish in the men’s event, crashed rounding a tight hairpin and took France’s Pierre Le Corre with him. “It was a nightmare,” Le Corre sighed, one France never managed to recover from despite the support from the tops of the bridges and along the river banks.

Up ahead, Great Britain built their lead as Taylor-Brown lowered her head on the bike and Dickinson took his moment to shine. The 27-year-old sacrificed his chances in the individual when he put Yee’s race above his own, launching everything into the bike leg to lead out his teammate before dropping out. Here, he gritted his teeth in his battle with Lasse Luehrs and found enough in his legs to hand Potter a five-second advantage that soon became 12 following her swim.

The pursuit was led by the tireless Knibb. Competing in two sports in Paris, the American suffered heartbreak in the rain in last week’s cycling time trial before competing in the individual triathlon. Back for her third race, she found the energy to lead the attack on the bike, reeling in Lindemann before they both pulled Potter back. “The run leg was tough,” she said. “I think I was a bit tired from the bike. I got a bit detached on the first lap but managed to get myself back into the mix and then I was all in for the last 200 metres.”

And so to the sprint finish, the picture-perfect shot of the Hotel des Invalides looming magnificently in the background. “We got the race that we wanted and ultimately it came down to three brilliant women, three brilliant athletes,” said British triathlon’s performance director Mike Cavendish, “and it was just incredibly tight.” It could have been gold, it was almost silver, but they will settle for bronze.