Olympic Distance, Women

Since the 2021 Olympic Games, reigning champion Flora Duffy of Bermuda had won two more World Championships to put her career total up to four, while Georgia Taylor-Brown (GBR) had remained at the forefront of the sport. Unfortunately, both women had missed large parts of 2023 and early 2024 due to injury. In their absence, former track athlete Beth Potter won the 2023 World title, with new generation of triathletes from the United States and France making their breakthroughs in the years immediately before the Paris Games.

The race started at 8 AM on 31 July, with this only being confirmed a few hours before the event, when pollution events had dropped enough for it to no longer be an issue. Unfortunately, the race was plagued by heavy overnight rain, which caused the Seine to be plagued by swirling currents, and made the cycling course treacherous because of the wet cobbles. Flora Duffy came out of the water with a lead of 10 seconds, after cleverly making use of the race director’s decision allowing the athletes to swim closer to the bank on the return than originally planned.

The cycling phase was a minefield. Duffy avoided the carnage as she remained clear for the first few laps, but nearly half the chasing pack crashed when they met the iconic Champs-Élysées cobbles. The Bermudan was caught before the transition to the running, and a group of nine formed as they set off on their run.

This group was soon whittled down to four, in the shape of French pair Cassandre Beaugrand and Emma Lombardi, World champion Potter, and a surprise package in Julie Derron of Switzerland. The quartet stayed together until the start of the final lap, when Derron tried to apply further pressure on the group. It succeeded on burning off Potter and Lombardi, but the Swiss could do nothing about Beaugrand, who pulled away amongst cheering crowds for the French victory. Derron held on for silver and Potter for bronze, with Lombardi being the unlucky fourth-place finisher. Reigning champion Duffy finished fifth.