- The Swiss Quad Quartet shows a solid, but not outstanding, performance in the first mixed relay of the Summer Games.
- Jolanda Annen, Andrea Salvisberg, Nicola Spirig and Max Studer were tied up early, but at seven they still earned a diploma.
- Great Britain, with starters Jessica Learmonth, Jonathan Brownlee, Georgia Taylor Brown and Alex Yee, took the gold.
After the second change at the latest, the mission became ungrateful and the battle for medals was long lost. Team captain Nicola Spirig finished ninth – about a minute behind on the podium.
In her fifth Olympic appearance, the Zurich woman still leads the team in seventh place and made the most of it. Spirig managed to hold the handicap compared to the first place in her division with swimming 300 meters and cycling 6.8 km and 2 km in 1:34 min.
We no longer lose sight of the testimony
Max Studer, as the final player, crossed the finish line safely in an attractive seventh place among 16 nations at Odaiba Marine Park. The bronze was elusive with a 1:23 minute ratio. So the tripartite Swiss delegation travels with Sixth place in the individual race from Spirig with two Olympic certificates from the Japanese capital.
The tension had dissipated early in the race, which was included in the program in Tokyo as the third competition for the athletes. Already in the first substitution, the quad broke up on the first lap of the bike’s two laps and broke decisively away from the pursuers.
So just over 6 minutes into the race, only the countries of Great Britain, the USA, France and Germany came into question for the medals.
Jolanda Annen, the first Swiss player, was not able to jump on this express train and fought in vain to stay in the field behind the leaders. With a mortgage of 46 seconds, I finally handed it to Andrea Salvesberg in ninth, who although already feeling good, wasn’t able to achieve anything. To make matters worse, the two had no support on the bike.
Briton Yi irresistibly attracted in the end
The season decision is still impactful in store. After Great Britain led the field for a long time, France and the United States were finally able to advance again.
Only in the final round did Briton Alex Yee, silver in the singles, ignite the turbo and secured his team’s gold medal by 14 seconds. The United States and France followed in other positions.