Team GB cruelly LOSE silver medal after Paris Olympics ‘balls up’ following incredible photo finish

TEAM GB were cruelly demoted from silver to bronze after a ‘balls up’ in the triathlon mixed relay.

Alex Yee, Georgia Taylor-Brown, Sam Dickinson and Beth Potter took it down to the wire but were pipped to the finish line by Germany.

EPA

Team GB were denied a silver medal[/caption]

BBC Sport

It went down to a photo finish[/caption]

X / @TeamGB

Team GB thought they had secured silver[/caption]

The remaining two medals were then determined by an incredibly tight photo finish.

Following a nervy wait, Team GB were handed the silver – only to then be downgraded following a post-race review.

Everyone involved was under the assumption that Yee, Taylor-Brown, Dickinson and Potter took silver, with Team GB’s social media account even congratulating the quartet on coming second.

But the change was confirmed just over 15 minutes after the race conclusion.

Rowing legend and BBC pundit Matthew Pinsent branded the situation a “total balls up”.

He took to X to write: “Total balls up by Tri officials to not get the photo finish absolutely right in the first instance. GB bronze correct but there are procedures in loads of sports to learn from that are better than this.”

British Triathlon performance director Mike Cavendish said: “We thought it was silver, the display showed it was silver. The judges will look at a video still, that isn’t great to go off. When it’s come to the official photo finish, America were just ahead of us.

“It’s very rare that it goes to a photo finish. I’m still so proud they got a bronze, it’s just a brilliant advert for our sport.”

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Getty

Alex Yee got GB off to a flying start[/caption]

Men’s gold medallist Yee had kicked off the race for Team GB, building up a strong 16-second lead by the end of the first leg.

Taylor-Brown then took over and maintained the lead until the last stretch of the 1.8km run, when Germany’s Lisa Tertsch edged in front.

With just one second separating GB and Germany, Dickinson and Lasse Luehrs were neck and neck throughout the third leg.

But the Brit dug deep to pick up a five-second advantage by the final changeover.

Potter, who won a bronze medal in the women’s individual triathlon last week, then took the reigns for the last section.

She couldn’t quite keep the pace in the cycle, dropping to third behind Taylor Knibb and Laura Lindemann.

But a speedy transition put her back in front to set up a thrilling finale.

Lindemann crossed the finish line first, but it went down to a photo finish between Potter and Knibb.

Triathlon controversy

The conclusion of the mixed relay sees the triathlon events come to an end after much controversy.

The mixed relay training session was cancelled at the last minute on Sunday due to concerns surrounding the safety of the River Seine.

Organisers admitted heavy rain affected the river’s water quality, making it far too unsafe to swim in.

Belgium were forced to pull out of the main event after one athlete was hospitalised with an E. coli infection.

Claire Michel took part in the women’s triathlon last Wednesday and fell ill the following day.

Reports claim Adrien Briffod of Switzerland also fell seriously ill following the men’s event.