For those of you who missed the NBC coverage of the women's triathlon event, the thrilling photo finish has been one of the highlights of the 2012 games.
The race began with athletes, including Americans Sara Groff, Laura Bennett and Gwen Jorgensen, facing off in the 1.5k swim held in London's Serpentine Lake. With water temperatures low enough to allow wetsuits, Great Britain's Lucy Hall was able to maintain a pace that built a hefty gap between the lead pack of five- including Laura Bennett- and the rest of the field.
In the 43k bike, the break-away was quickly swallowed by an aggressive field of cyclist, with Swiss athlete Nicola Spirig leading the chase. Shortly after, a series of crashes began to plague the race. Due to slick roads from evening rain the night before, Australian Olympic bronze medalist, Emma Moffat watched her bike slide out from under her on a broad turn, where she hit hard and was unable to finish. More bad luck followed as Brazil, Poland, Hungary and Italy became victims of the same treacherous corner.
The blistering pace out of T2 began the 10k and quickly separated the strong runners into a lead pack of nine, including Groff. They eventually whittled the pack down to Jenkins, Norden, Densham and Spirig- with Groff deciding to stick to her pre-determined pace and wait for an opening. Her strategy paid off as she began catching athletes dropped by the lead pack. The women began the sprint to the finish with 400m to go. Groff was unable to match the speed of the women and was edged out of medal contention, finishing in fourth place. Densham was next to succumb to Norden and Spirig and finished in third. With 50 m to go the women flew down the final chute matching each other stride for stride. Both women lunged at the line simultaneously and collapsed, still unsure of the outcome.
With the photo finish flashing on the big screen, spectators and athletes waited to hear the results. Spirig had nudged Norden out of the gold medal with a margin of a few inches. To view full results click HERE.
On the Men's side, US athletes Manuel Huerta and Hunter Kemper will be squaring off Aug. 7th.
