Cassandre Beaugrand of France made history by winning the women's individual triathlon gold medal at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics held in the Seine River on July 31. This victory marks France's first-ever gold in the sport at the Games.
Prior to the competition, the Seine River faced scrutiny over its water quality, leading to the cancellation of multiple swimming practices and a delay in the event schedule.
\"We knew so many people would have asked questions. So we were prepared for that. And I'll just say, we swam in worse rivers sometimes, like in Tokyo, I don't think it was that great. And no one was sick. We raced in the Seine the year before for the test event, and no one was sick after that,\" Beaugrand told reporters.
\"So I knew that we would have actually raced, I was very confident about it,\" she added. \"I was very focused on my race. I think I started knowing that I was racing for the podium when we were in the run, because we were like four girls and I knew that we had a little gap with the others. So I was just trying to grind my teeth and go for it, and just keep believing that I could do it.\"
In other events, Alex Yee of Great Britain won the men's individual triathlon, while the mixed relay title was claimed by the German team consisting of Tim Hellwig, Lisa Tertsch, Lasse Luhrs, and Laura Lindemann.
Reference(s):
2024 Olympic triathlon gold medalist on Seine: We swam in worse rivers
cgtn.com
