The Dutch triathlon team finished fourth in the mixed relay during the Tokyo Olympics. Britain seized gold. The silver medal went to the United States and France had to settle for bronze.
Holland had to give in 53 seconds to the winning team from Great Britain. The US quartet finished 14 seconds ahead of the winner. France’s buildup at the end was 23 seconds.
new discipline
Mixed Relay is a new specialty in gaming. Teams of two men and women completed a small 300-meter swimming triathlon and a 7-kilometer and 2-kilometer cycling in a relay format. The Dutch team consisted of Maastricht Maya Kingma, Rachel Klammer, Jurik van Igdom and Marco van der Stel. Clamer placed fourth in singles competition during the Games.
Start flying Kingma
Kingma gave the Dutch team a great start. She came out of the water in second place and finished two seconds behind German leader Laura Lindemann. Van der Stel maintained his position in the leading four-man group during swimming and cycling, which also consisted of the teams of Germany, the United States and Great Britain. After running, he crossed the finish line in third place, behind Britain’s Jonathan Brownlee and American Kevin McDowell.
Read also: Kingma gets up at 3am for the Tokyo Triathlon
best result
Klammer kept the Netherlands in fourth place, but could not prevent Great Britain, the United States and France from continuing to advance. Van Igdom left his Belgian and German rivals behind in the final meters and finished fourth. The Dutch national team was satisfied with the result. “It’s unbelievable,” Kingma said in front of the NOS camera. “I guess we didn’t expect all of this. But we were as good as we can be. This is a fantastic result.” Van der Stel said he did everything he could to keep the team in fourth place. “I was in the leading group in swimming, but I didn’t do much in cycling. I knew it had to happen while running. I took everything out of the tank it was in.”
annoying belly
Klammer, who also finished fourth in the individual competition, managed to keep the Netherlands in fourth place, but did not feel fit. She still has pain in her stomach, which has also bothered her before. “The rest did very well. Things went a little less. Swimming went better, but cycling was less. Fortunately, I was able to come back after running.” Van Egmond admitted he felt pressure to finish well. The medal was out of sight, but he wanted to keep fourth place. “If the others are doing well, you don’t want to give up. I had to stay with that. I think we can be very proud as a team,” Van Egmond told NOS.
The winning British band consisted of Jessica Learmonth, Jonathan Brownlee, Georgia Taylor Brown and Alex Day.
