Tokyo 2020: triathlon mixed relay gold for Team GB

Day Eight of the Tokyo Games got off to a great start for Team GB after winning a gold in the triathlon mixed relay.

The quartet of Jonny Brownlee, Jessica Learmonth, Georgia Taylor-Brown and Alex Yee produced a superb performance to finish 14 seconds ahead of silver medallists the USA, while France took the bronze.

For Brownlee, the result is a triumphant farewell in his final Olympic outing – he can now add a gold to his London 2012 bronze and his Rio 2016 silver.

For both Taylor-Brown and Yee, this win sees them seize their second medals of the Tokyo Games, after winning the silver in the individual events.

The individual events feature a 1.5km swim, 40km cycle and 10km run, but for the relay each leg is shortened to a 300m swim, 6.8km cycle and 2km run.

After an excellent first leg from Learmonth, Brownlee broke away from the pack to open up a nine-second advantage over the rest of the field. Taylor-Brown extended this lead to 22 seconds, and Yee maintained then powered ahead, storming to the win despite a late push by France on the cycling stage.

Brownlee said: “The Olympics? I’ve completed it. It feels absolutely amazing. It’s my third Olympics and I finally walk away with gold. We knew coming into this race there was a lot of pressure on us, we all had to race very well and do everything right and that’s what we did.”

Learmonth said: “I can’t believe it. I was slightly nervous being in a team of Olympic medallists and I’m just so glad we executed a brilliant race.”

Taylor-Brown said: “I just tried to not panic. Jonny gave me such a big lead. I just knew I had a bit of time to chill out and not stress too much about it, as that’s when things can go very wrong. I knew I had to give everything that last run lap and give as big of a gap as I could for Yee boy!”

Yee, who is making his Games debut, admitted he had to respond after being overtaken by France’s Vincent Luis on the bike before pulling away during the run: “I know my run’s my strength so I just went for it. It’s amazing to be here and do it with these great guys.”