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| Event type

Olympic Distance, Women

Date 4 August 2012 — 9:00
StatusOlympic
LocationHyde Park, London
Participants55 from 31 countries

This may be the greatest single race in triathlon history, challenged perhaps only by the 1989 Ironman race between Dave Scott and Mark Allen. Britain put their hopes on Helen Jenkins, the 2008 and 2011 World Champion, but she struggled with an injury coming into the Games, which hampered her training. Switzerland’s Nicola Spirig had already won two of the stages of the ITU World Series and was favored with Jenkins hurt, although Australia’s Emma Moffatt was expected to challenge for gold.

The run was four laps of a 2½ km course, and as the leaders entered the final lap, there was a lead pack of five athletes – Spirig, Jenkins, Lisa Nordén (SWE), Erin Densham (AUS), and Sarah Groff (USA), as Moffatt had crashed on the bike ride and would not finish. Jenkins was dropped first by the leaders as she could not keep pace. Groff held on until about 700 metres from the finish but then was dropped, leaving Spirig, Nordén and Densham to contest the medals. Spirig and Nordén ran shoulder-to-shoulder and gradually dropped Densham within the last 200 metres. The two leaders could not be separated and neither was ever able to get an entire body width in front, as the lead changed hands several times. At the end they were in an all-out sprint, still with nothing to separate them.

As they hit the line, seemingly together, it was unclear who had won. Finally, the finish photo determined that Spirig had won the gold medal, although they were given the same time and the margin was later revealed to be only 0.009 seconds, a ridiculous margin to determine a champion in a 2-hour race.

PosCompetitorNOCTime1.5 km SwimmingTransition 1 (swim-to-cycle)40 km CyclingTransition 2 (cycle-to-run)10 km Running
1Nicola SpirigSUI1-59:4819:24 (18)0:40 (=7)1-05:33 (=8)0:30 (=4)33:41 (1)Gold
2Lisa NordénSWE1-59:4819:17 (8)0:47 (51)1-05:33 (=8)0:29 (=2)33:42 (=2)Silver
3Erin DenshamAUS1-59:5019:25 (20)0:40 (=7)1-05:33 (=8)0:30 (=4)33:42 (=2)Bronze
4Sarah GroffUSA2-00:0019:20 (11)0:37 (1)1-05:40 (=15)0:31 (=11)33:52 (5)
5Helen JenkinsGBR2-00:1919:19 (10)0:43 (=29)1-05:35 (12)0:32 (=19)34:10 (6)
6Andrea HewittNZL2-00:3619:28 (26)0:42 (=20)1-05:26 (=1)0:30 (=4)34:30 (9)
7Ainhoa MurúaESP2-00:5619:21 (14)0:39 (=4)1-05:37 (14)0:32 (=19)34:47 (11)
8Emma JacksonAUS2-01:1619:25 (19)0:42 (=20)1-05:32 (7)0:30 (=4)35:07 (17)
9Jess HarrisonFRA2-01:2218:39 (7)0:43 (=29)1-06:16 (17)0:31 (=11)35:13 (19)
10Kate McIlroyNZL2-01:2819:31 (32)0:41 (=15)1-05:26 (=1)0:36 (=47)35:14 (20)
11Anne HaugGER2-01:3519:44 (38)0:42 (=20)1-06:59 (=28)0:28 (1)33:42 (=2)
12Anja DittmerGER2-01:3819:25 (21)0:44 (=37)1-05:27 (=3)0:30 (=4)35:32 (21)
13Irina AbysovaRUS2-01:5219:20 (12)0:46 (=49)1-05:34 (11)0:31 (=11)35:41 (23)
14Mariko AdachiJPN2-02:0418:25 (3)0:44 (=37)1-06:29 (20)0:35 (=39)35:51 (24)
15Vendula FrintováCZE2-02:0819:30 (30)0:42 (=20)1-05:27 (=3)0:32 (=19)35:57 (25)
16Bárbara RiverosCHI2-02:1519:44 (37)0:38 (=2)1-07:03 (31)0:35 (=39)34:15 (7)
17Laura BennettUSA2-02:1718:36 (6)0:40 (=7)1-06:22 (18)0:29 (=2)36:10 (29)
18Emmie CharayronFRA2-02:2619:48 (43)0:39 (=4)1-06:58 (27)0:34 (=34)34:27 (8)
19Gillian SandersRSA2-02:2819:29 (29)0:38 (=2)1-05:31 (6)0:32 (=19)36:18 (30)
20Radka VodičkováCZE2-02:3419:18 (9)0:41 (=15)1-05:40 (=15)0:34 (=34)36:21 (31)
21Claudia RivasMEX2-02:3818:29 (5)0:43 (=29)1-06:26 (19)0:33 (=28)36:27 (33)
22Katie RobertsRSA2-02:4619:23 (16)0:40 (=7)1-07:21 (37)0:34 (=34)34:48 (=12)
23Line JensenDEN2-02:4718:21 (2)0:43 (=29)1-06:34 (21)0:32 (=19)36:37 (34)
24Marina DamlaimcourtESP2-02:5019:20 (13)0:44 (=37)1-05:36 (13)0:30 (=4)36:40 (35)
25Agnieszka JerzykPOL2-02:5219:47 (41)0:41 (=15)1-06:57 (26)0:32 (=19)34:55 (14)
26Vicky HollandGBR2-02:5519:22 (15)0:41 (=15)1-07:23 (38)0:31 (=11)34:58 (15)
27Helle FrederiksenDEN2-03:1019:31 (33)0:45 (=44)1-07:11 (=32)0:33 (=28)35:10 (18)
28Katrien VerstuyftBEL2-03:3819:43 (36)0:45 (=44)1-06:59 (=28)0:31 (=11)35:40 (22)
29Carole PéonFRA2-03:5819:30 (31)0:45 (=44)1-07:11 (=32)0:33 (=28)35:59 (26)
30Pâmella OliveiraBRA2-04:0218:27 (4)0:42 (=20)1-08:16 (39)0:36 (=47)36:01 (27)
31Maria CześnikPOL2-04:0919:28 (25)0:42 (=20)1-07:17 (36)0:33 (=28)36:09 (28)
32Svenja BazlenGER2-04:1119:28 (27)0:40 (=7)1-05:29 (5)0:33 (=28)38:01 (45)
33Lucy HallGBR2-04:3818:17 (1)0:43 (=29)1-06:39 (22)0:35 (=39)38:24 (48)
34Juri IdeJPN2-04:4319:46 (39)0:43 (=29)1-06:56 (=24)0:35 (=39)36:43 (36)
35Nicky SamuelsNZL2-04:4819:46 (40)0:40 (=7)1-07:00 (30)0:32 (=19)36:50 (37)
36Rachel KlamerNED2-04:5919:27 (24)0:44 (=37)1-07:14 (35)0:35 (=39)36:59 (39)
37Mateja ŠimicSLO2-05:3519:31 (34)0:43 (=29)1-07:11 (=32)0:34 (=34)37:36 (44)
38Gwen JorgensenUSA2-06:3419:27 (23)0:44 (=37)1-11:06 (50)0:33 (=28)34:44 (10)
39Ai UedaJPN2-06:3420:48 (53)0:45 (=44)1-09:42 (42)0:31 (=11)34:48 (=12)
40Daniela RyfSUI2-06:3719:49 (45)0:51 (=54)1-08:28 (40)0:31 (=11)36:58 (38)
41Maaike CaelersNED2-06:5320:49 (54)0:44 (=37)1-09:41 (41)0:36 (=47)35:03 (16)
42Fabienne St LouisMRI2-07:3719:51 (49)0:39 (=4)1-06:54 (23)0:35 (=39)39:38 (50)
43Aileen MorrisonIRL2-08:1619:36 (35)0:41 (=15)1-10:59 (49)0:36 (=47)36:24 (32)
44Zuriñe RodríguezESP2-08:4419:49 (44)0:42 (=20)1-06:56 (=24)0:36 (=47)40:41 (52)
45Flora DuffyBER2-08:5419:28 (28)0:40 (=7)1-11:07 (51)0:31 (=11)37:08 (40)
46Annamaria MazzettiITA2-09:0819:25 (22)0:40 (=7)1-11:09 (52)0:35 (=39)37:19 (41)
47Aleksandra RazaryonovaRUS2-09:1119:47 (42)0:51 (=54)1-10:36 (44)0:30 (=4)37:27 (43)
48Lisa PertererAUT2-09:1220:17 (52)0:45 (=44)1-10:12 (43)0:35 (=39)37:23 (42)
49Elizabeth BravoECU2-10:0019:50 (48)0:42 (=20)1-10:44 (48)0:32 (=19)38:12 (47)
50Zhang YiCHN2-10:0119:49 (46)0:50 (=52)1-10:39 (45)0:32 (=19)38:11 (46)
51Zsófia KovácsHUN2-10:3919:51 (50)0:44 (=37)1-10:40 (46)0:34 (=34)38:50 (49)
52Paula FindlayCAN2-12:0919:52 (51)0:42 (=20)1-10:42 (47)0:37 (52)40:16 (51)
DNFKathy TremblayCAN19:50 (47)0:50 (=52)– (DNF)
DNFEmma MoffattAUS19:23 (17)0:43 (=29)– (DNF)
DNFYuliya YelistratovaUKR20:50 (55)0:46 (=49)– (DNF)lapped