Athens 2004 Official Report - LA84 Foundation

414
Official Report of the XXVIII Olympiad
stations) in case of tyre puncture. The test
event of Cycling was successfully conducted at
this venue in August 2003.
Men's Individual
New Zealand triathletes made history, after 33year-old
Hamish CARTER executed the perfect
tactical race to win the Men's Triathlon, holding
off teammate Bevan DOCHERTY, the fastest
runner in the sport of Triathlon, in the final run
to the line. DOCHERTY, the reigning world
champion, and one of the few men to have run
a sub-30 minute 10km split in a Triathlon,
attacked CARTER relentlessly in the final lap of
the run, but CARTER maintained his smooth
running form and composure to pull away in
the final kilometre, to win by 7.87 seconds.
Not since the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games,
when Blythe TAIT and Sally CLARK took gold
and silver respectively in the Equestrian Three
Day Individual Event, have two New Zealanders
stood together on an Olympic podium in first
and second place. Brilliant young Swiss triathlete
Sven RIEDERER claimed the bronze medal in
1:51:33.26, after tenaciously hanging on to the
New Zealanders throughout the run leg, only
losing touch when the surges began in the
closing stages. The medallists had earlier been
part of a decisive breakaway group, during the
cycle leg, masterminded by the strongest cyclist
in the field, Olivier MARCEAU (SUI). In a move
that ultimately decided the podium finishers,
MARCEAU dragged five other riders up the
700m cycle leg hill on the second of the five
laps, opening a narrow break on the ensuing
downhill that extended to a lead into T2 (the
cycle to run transition) of 47 seconds. The
break containing MARCEAU, Andrew JOHNS
(GBR), RIEDERER, DOCHERTY, CARTER and
Frenchman Frederic BELAUBRE, was launched
only minutes after most of the field had swum
together for the 1.500m open water swim leg.
Women's Individual
In the women's Triathlon, Austrian Kate ALLEN
snatched the gold medal in a spectacular
fashion, propelling herself into the lead for the
first time in the race in the finish chute, inside
the last few hundred metres of the race.
Starting the 10km run 2:48 behind the leaders,
35-year-old ALLEN was unstoppable, posting
the fastest run split of 34:13.00, and charging
past ten other competitors on her way to the
finish line at the Vouliagmeni Olympic Centre.
The Austrian's surge to the line relegated
Loretta HARROP to second place by 6.72
seconds, after the Australian had led the 50strong
field from the water after the 1.500m
swim. HARROP headed the field from the
moment she exited T1, the swim to bike
Men
Gold
Silver
Bronze
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
Name
CARTER Hamish
DOCHERTY Bevan
RIEDERER Sven
BENNETT Greg
BELAUBRE Frederic
RAELERT Andreas
HENNING Rasmus
MARCEAU Olivier
NOC
NZL
NZL
SUI
AUS
FRA
GER
DEN
SUI
Time
1:51:07.73
1:51:15.60
1:51:33.26
1:51:41.58
1:52:00.53
1:52:35.62
1:52:37.32
1:52:44.36
transition, working first with American Sheila
TAORMINA during the 40km cycle leg, and
then building and sustaining a 30-second lead
until the final 2km of the 10km run leg. With air
temperatures hovering around 30 degrees
Celsius, early race conditions for the 10:00 start
time were mild for competitors, with only light
breezes affecting the open water swim leg.
A small group of nine swimmers, including
HARROR Barbara LINDQUIST (USA),
TAORMINA, Rina HILL (AUS), Jill SAVEGE
(CAN), Silvia GEMIGNANI (ITA), Joelle
FRANZMANN (GER), Jodie SWALLOW
(GBR) and Susan WILLIAMS (USA) broke away
rounding the final swim buoy, but HARROP left
the water first and soon attacked the 700
metre hill on lap one of the cycle leg, dragging
the American trio with her. With WILLIAMS
crashing after the first climb, a two-woman
breakaway formed, after LINDQUIST also
dropped off the pace, leaving HARROP and
TAORMINA out in front. At one stage during
the third lap of five, the race leaders had
extended their lead to 48 seconds over the
chasing pair of Americans, with a further 2:25
back to the main group of riders. In laps three,
four and five, Belgian cycle specialist Kathleen
SMET attempted to bridge the gap between
the main pack and WILLIAMS and LINDQUIST
getting to within 9 seconds on lap three, before
losing ground. On lap four of the five-lap bike
leg, TAORMINA dramatically dropped back to
her pursuing team mates, leaving HARROP to
enter T2 on her own with a slender 15-second
lead. HARROP flew out of T2 to a commanding
lead of around 30 seconds, pushing hard up the
slight inclines to stay ahead of WILLIAMS, who
had smoothly moved into second place halfway
through the run. With LINDQUIST fading and
TAORMINA falling off the pace set by
WILLIAMS, HARROP's lead with 4km to go
looked unassailable, until the flying Austrian
ALLEN rocketed past the crowd going into final
3.3 km lap, having picked up just over two and a
half minutes in the first two run loops. In a
thrilling conclusion, ALLEN eventually passed a
tiring HARROP on the long final downhill with
the finish line in sight, crossing in 2:04:43.45 to
the Australian's 2:04:50.17. On a day when an
American triathlete was never far from the lead,
WILLIAMS (2:05:08.92) managed to hang on to
the bronze medal position in front of SMET
(2:05.35.89), and a charging Nadia CORTASSA
(ITA), who posted the second fastest run split.
LINDQUIST finished ninth, while TAORMINA
faded to 23rd position in the final lap of the run.
Forty-four out of the 50 women who started
the tough Vouliagmeni course finished within
2:22:39.28.
Women
Name
Gold ALLEN Kate
Silver HARROP Loretta
Bronze WILLIAMS Susan
4th SMET Kathleen
5th CORTASSA Nadia
6th DILLON Michelle
7th BURGOS Ana
8th FERNANDES Vanessa
NOC
AUT
AUS
USA
BEL
ITA
GBR
ESP
POR
Time
2:04:43.45
2:04:50.17
2:05:08.92
2:05:35.89
2:05:45.35
2:06:00.77
2:06:02.36
2:06:15.39