Olympic Distance, Women

This was one of the first events of the Sydney Olympics and Australian fans eagerly awaited it, expecting Michellie Jones to bring them a hometown victory. Jones had won the World Cup on the Sydney course only five months before. The swim leader was American Sheila Taormina, who had competed in swimming at the 1996 Olympics, winning a gold medal in the 4x200 freestyle relay. France’s Isabelle Mouthon-Michellys won the bike leg, and led starting the run, with Jones in 5th place, and Switzerland’s Brigitte McMahon in 8th. But Jones and McMahon were two of the best runners in the field. Jones finished the bike leg in 5th place, but a very fast bike-run transition enabled her to start the run in the lead, with McMahon 10 seconds behind. But McMahon’s excellent running allowed her to quickly make up that margin. They ran shoulder-to-shoulder for most of the last half of the run, with the Australian fans madly cheering on Jones. But gradually McMahon edged away in the in-run to the finish line. The run leg was won by almost a minute by Britain’s Stephanie Forrester, but her weak swim and bike left her in only 15th place.