Beth Potter was just edged out by the USA’s Taylor Knibb on the line in the final leg of the triathlon mixed relay; Great Britain were initially awarded the silver medal, but a review of the photo finish by race officials saw them downgraded to bronze; Germany took gold in the event

Great Britain claimed a third triathlon medal in Paris in the mixed relay but were downgraded from silver to bronze after a dramatic photo finish.

Britain won the inaugural Olympic title in the format in Tokyo and looked in a very strong position when individual bronze medallist Beth Potter began the last leg in the lead.

But Potter could not match the pace of Germany’s Laura Lindemann on the final sprint and was just pipped by Taylor Knibb of the United States in a photo finish.

Potter was initially given second place, but following a review of the photo finish by race officials she was downgraded to third.

“The run leg was tough, I think I was a bit tired from the bike,” Potter said. “I got a bit detached in the first leg, but managed to get myself back into the mix, and then was just all in for the last 200 metres.

“I thought we might have had the silver, but we got a bronze. Still a medal.”

Individual men’s champion Alex Yee gave the British team the perfect start, while Georgia Taylor-Brown – like Yee a member of the Tokyo quartet – and Sam Dickinson kept them in front around the streets of Paris.

There was again doubt about whether the race would take place as scheduled after another drop in water quality in the Seine, while Belgium were forced to withdraw because of illness to one of their athletes, Claire Michel.

Belgian media reported Michel was suffering from an E. Coli infection following the individual race. Belgian Triathlon has been contacted for comment.

Switzerland also made a substitution to their intended line-up after Adrian Briffod fell ill, intensifying the spotlight on the organising committee’s decision to make swimming in the Seine such a central part of the Games.

After victory in the women’s race for Cassandre Beaugrand, France would have been confident of another gold here, but disaster struck for them late on the second lap of the bike when Pierre Le Corre tangled with Hayden Wilde and fell.

Yee quickly took the lead on the run and handed over to Taylor-Brown with a small advantage, while Le Corre was 40 seconds down, his team already out of contention.

Taylor-Brown extended the lead on the swim but paid for having to do a solo time trial on the bike and faded at the end of the run, with Germany’s Lisa Tertsch overtaking her.

Sam Dickinson pulled out during the individual race after helping Yee, and he made a strong start in the water before working well with Germany’s Lasse Luehrs to pull away at the front.

Dickinson handed over to Potter with a five-second lead, which she initially extended before being caught by Knibb and Lindemann late in the bike leg.

Potter is a very strong runner but the short distance, only 1.9 kilometres compared to 10km in the full triathlon, favoured Lindemann.

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