The triathlon events at the Paris Olympic Games were defined by a litany of moments and memories. At the same time, they were also marked by a series of numbers. Some of these numbers were at the centre of attention, with some athletes clocking the fastest splits seen yet at the Games. Others were a little more subtle. Read on to find out some of the key numbers that shaped the triathlon action in Paris.
Unpacking an Olympic record run
In addition to striking gold, Cassandre Beaugrand clocked the fastest ever 10km run in Olympic triathlon history. She produced a time of 32:49. Her fellow women’s medallists, Julie Derron and Beth Potter, similarly undercut Flora Duffy’s previous best from Tokyo of 33:00 in a sign that the women’s race was fast in more ways than one.
Another noteworthy point to take away from Beaugrand’s effort is that at the Olympic Test Event a year prior, she managed a run split of 33:07 on her way to the silver medal. Meanwhile, Potter ran 32:57 at the Test Event and was only 2 seconds slower at the Games. One conclusion could therefore be that Potter maintained her 2023 levels that saw her become world champion. She simply came up against a rival that had stepped up to an entirely new plane.
A slower men’s run than expected?
Interestingly, Alex Yee’s field-leading effort in the men’s race was not enough to take the mantle of the fastest triathlete in the history of the Games. He stopped the clock at 29:47, some 40 seconds slower than compatriot Alistair Bronwlee’s effort at London 2012. Of greater interest is that Yee’s split in Paris was 47 seconds slower than his time on the same course at the Olympic Test Event. He was not alone among the Paris medallists to run slower at the Games than at the Test Event. Hayden Wilde did not finish in 2023 so cannot be compared but Leo Bergere ran 33 seconds slower at the Games.
One factor that could have been behind the slower top times in the men’s Olympic race was a harder effort on the bike that may have sapped the legs of the athletes. On the other hand, the men’s bike splits were broadly comparable, albeit slightly faster at the Games, across the two events.
To look at the fastest men’s bike splits from each race, Csongor Lehmann and Charles Paquet clocked 51:16 at the Games – handing them the fastest bike splits in Olympic history – while Max Studer produced a time of 51:25 to lead the way at the Test Event. Taking Yee as another point of comparison, he rode a time of 51:57 at the Olympics and 52:17 at the Test Event. Overall, then, the men’s Olympic race can be said to have been slightly faster on the bike which may have impacted the run splits. On balance, though, the difference between the bike sections was not too drastic. As an aside, in the women’s race Maria Tomé’s effort of 57:34 also earned the top spot across the history of female bike splits at the Games.
A difficult river swim
The top Olympic splits in the swim went untroubled by the performances in Paris. This was in no small part a consequence of navigating the strong currents in the Seine. This difficulty was also indicated across the deficits of the athletes against the fastest swimmer.
Only two men of the 49 with previous standard distance WTCS results from 2023 or 2024 matched or improved upon their average swim deficit to the top performer. Henri Schoeman has been 13.5 seconds behind the top swimmer on average but in Paris was only 2 seconds back when exiting the water. Alessio Crociani was the only swimmer to match his average. He had previously averaged a deficit of 0 seconds - he led the swim in his sole standard distance Series race of 2023 or 2024 in Cagliari this year - and in Paris had the same deficit of 0 seconds by being the first man out of the water. With 47 men faring worse than their previous averages, it is clear that the swim was much more stretched than usual.
The same situation played out in the women’s race. Only three women - Flora Duffy, Beth Potter and Zsanett Kuttor-Bragmayer - of the 50 athletes with previous standard distance WTCS results from 2023 or 2024 beat their average swim deficit. Duffy turned an average deficit of 4 seconds to a deficit of 0 seconds in Paris by leading the swim. Potter had a great swim at the Games by exiting 20 seconds behind compared with her WTCS average of 24 seconds. Finally Kuttor-Bragmayer improved from her average deficit of 38 seconds to a Paris deficit of 29 seconds. With 47 women failing to match their average deficits, though, the signs are that the Paris swim was a real challenge for most.
Comebacks on the run
Plenty of athletes therefore lost ground in the water and others had to fight their back after a mishap on the bike, particularly in the slippery conditions of the women’s race. As a result, there were a handful of names tasked with making up time on the run and they duly delivered.
Vasco Vilaca, Ricardo Batista and Matthew Hauser each made up 18 places to make the biggest rises of the men’s race. Together they made a considerable surge through the field and finished in 5th, 6th and 7th, respectively. Over in the women’s race, Laura Lindemann and Julia Hauser each made up 13 places. Lindemann’s effort carried her all the way to 8th, although that will be of little solace as she was already in a similar position before her late crash on the bike. Compared to previous Olympic races, though, the comebacks were on the smaller side which once again reinforces the image that the races were stretched out.
The lucky numbers
Whereas the numbers already in this article were much more tangible and could actually be measured and quantified, we now turn to the numbers that can only really be measured in terms of vibes. Do lucky numbers matter? Are they really a thing? Any naysayers can point to the fact that Paris did not continue the trend of start number 15 claiming gold, as was the case in both the men’s and women’s races in Tokyo. Moreover, the lucky streak of number 34 did not continue. Prior to Paris, athletes wearing 34 had won more Olympic triathlon medals than any other number and Emma Lombardi almost added another to the tally as she finished 4th.
However, one lucky set of numbers held firm. Six of the twelve individual gold medals before Paris had been won by athletes wearing numbers between 29 and 39. In Paris, Cassandre Beaugrand made it seven from fourteen as, wearing number 33, she powered to the gold. The 50% ratio of golds for numbers 29-39 thus remains intact and at the Los Angeles Olympics it may be the case that every gold medal hopeful keeps their fingers crossed for a number in that golden, lucky range.
