Paris (AFP)
Funny misfortune for Jessica Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown: crossing together and leading the finish line of the test event of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, the two British triathletes thought they won the race Thursday, but were disqualified by the Federation international.
After the 1,500 meters of swimming and 40 kilometers of bike, Learmonth and Taylor-Brown took off from the beginning of the running, reduced from 10 to 5 kilometers due in extreme weather conditions in the Japanese capital -more 31 ° C and 71% humidity before 9am.
Even Bermuda triathlete Flora Duffy, winner of the Olympic distance triathlon World Cup (WTS) in 2016 and 2017, is forced to let the two Britons take the lead and hand in hand at the finish line. .
The International Federation (ITU), however, has decided to apply paragraph 2.11.f of its regulation, which states that: "athletes who end the race intentionally on equal terms by not making any effort to separate their time from arrival will be disqualified ".
For the ITU, it was Bermudan Duffy who won this race, which allows the organizers of the Olympics 2020 to test the infrastructure and athletes to compete in conditions close to those that await them next summer . It will also have made it possible to revise the ITU rules.
This outcome is far from being anecdotal, since the British Federation had made this race a selection criterion for Tokyo-2020.
With the disqualification of Learmonth and Taylor-Brown, their compatriot Vicky Holland, a bronze medalist at Rio-2016, is on the podium of the test event, meeting the two criteria set by the British Federation to secure its place in the Olympics 2020.
"I do not know how the federation will now proceed, I would not want to be a coach!" commented Holland on the ITU website after the race.
© 2019 AFP