Olympic Mixed Team Relay Preview: Can Anyone Beat Great Britain?

The roots of Mixed Relay Triathlon go back to 2003, when the ITU held a pair of Team Relay Championships in Hungary – one for men and one for women. Every team would have three members who would each complete one leg each of a swim, a bike, and a run. In 2009 the event was reorganized into a Mixed Relay combining four-person teams – two women and two men – who each completed a full 300-meter swim, 6.8 kilometer bike and a 2 kilometer run. This new format debuted in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, a significant step in hopefully adding team triathlon into the 2016 Olympic Games. However, it was not until the delayed Tokyo Games in 2021 that Mixed Team Relay debuted on the Olympic stage.

In the giddy excitement of the first Olympic Mixed Team Relay in Tokyo, the leading teams attracted star-filled rosters which made for exciting and competitive clashes. Great Britain featured Jessica Learmonth, multiple Olympic medalist Jonny Brownlee, world champion Georgia Taylor-Brown and cleanup hitter Alex Yee. The U.S. heavy hitters roster included 2021 individual Olympic bronze medalist Katie Zaferes, Kevin McDowell, rising star and killer cyclist Taylor Knibb and a surprising newcomer Morgan Pearson, who sported a startlingly swift run. The 2021 Olympic Mixed Relay duel came down to Alex Yee clinching victory for Great Britain by 14 seconds over the Americans, with France 9 seconds further back for the bronze.

Three years later, the contending teams have shuffled the deck significantly. In a World Championship Mixed Relay Team event in Hamburg held three weeks before the Olympics (a virtual Olympic Test Event), the German squad dominated for a second straight year. The German team of Henry Graf, Lisa Tertsch, Lasse Luhrs and Annika Koch finished first at Worlds in 1:19:53, leading the runner-up Swiss team – Max Studer, Julie Derron, Simon Westermann and Cathia Schär – by 8 seconds. Team New Zealand, led by Hayden Wilde, took the bronze, three seconds behind the Swiss.

Illustrating how much the leading teams have changed in 2024, the leading Mixed Relay teams at the Tokyo Olympics fell varying degrees of backward. In the qualifying races in July of 2024. Great Britain maintained respectability but not up to their 2021 gold standard. The Brits took 4th three weeks ago, with a team of Sam Dickinson, Beth Potter, Georgia Taylor-Brown and Alex Yee. But what makes Mixed Relay so delightfully unpredictable is that team members are subject to recent magic – to inspire or to depress – of their most recent Olympic individual performances.

Will oddsmakers trying their best base their picks on historic or recent form be simply confused? There is another approach. How much might the very recent results of the Individual Olympic triathlon affect the actual results? One key factor – did a winning or medal effort leave the Mixed Relay performer on a high, or exhausted? Has a disappointing Individual performance left a Mixed Relay performer depressed or raring to avenge? Will the very sprint format be so unique that guessing how they will fare in Mixed Relay be like comparing an NFL Combine 4.25 seconds 40-yard sprinter to a 400-meter Olympian?

There are sixteen teams competing for the Paris 2024 Mixed Team Relay. The final names and race order of the two men and two women selected to represent those 16 countries may only be decided at the last moment, with only a few countries having confirmed their rosters for the event. That leads to our speculation. Will Alex Yee’s come-from-behind victory, rather than exhausting him, elevate rather than enervate him? Bronze medal winner Beth Potter, after some post-race restorative rest, may have been equally inspired to contribute her great talent in Super League sprint format wins, into a high prestige Olympic sprint contest. Similarly, Georgia Taylor-Brown’s 6th place finish in Paris may leave her reinvigorated with team spirit. So, I predict the Brits will win.

France, whose super-talented members were concentrating on Individual prep and did not participate in the Hamburg event, might just have enough home country inspiration to unleash their all-star roster: Paris gold medalist Cassandre Beaugrand and fourth place Emma Lombardi, and on the men’s side, Olympic bronze medallist and 2022 World Champion Leo Bergere and fourth-placed Pierre Le Corre provide an extremely strong duo. On paper, they look unstoppable. In terms of potential order, Lombardi took the anchor leg when the hosts claimed silver at the Test Event last year. But might they wish to provide Beaugrand another opportunity to claim victory on Pont Alexandre III? Still, they are my silver pick.

Will the United States, after sorely disappointing Olympic finishes by their two stars, Taylor Knibb (19th) and Morgan Pearson (31st – two places behind Seth Rider), be eager for revenge? Will an out-for-blood Taylor Spivey after her 10th place finish inspire the U.S. to be closer to their Tokyo Mixed Relay podium finish than their 9th place three weeks ago? Or will the team rely on Kirsten Kasper, who had a great swim in the individual race but crashed out of contention? This time around the U.S. has a long shot and, in my opinion, enough firepower for bronze.

Other Teams to Watch

Prior to the Individual Olympics, the German Mixed Relay Team had been on a red-hot winning streak with a high chemistry team of lads and lasses but lacking star power, might well come back to earth and take 4th. Switzerland also had excellent form in Pre-Olympic Mixed Relay contests (second at the Mixed Relay World Championship three weeks before the Olympics). Their roster includes Julie Derron, coming off a dark horse silver medal at the Paris Individual contest, Cathi Schär (43rd), Max Studer (40th) and Adrien Briffod (49th). Derron ought to inspire all of them – but not enough to podium.

After finishing 12th at the 2021 Olympic Mixed Team Relay in Tokyo, New Zealand made the most sweeping improvement with a 3rd place at the 2024 Mixed Team Relay World Championship in July. But given the renewed strength of many teams, the Kiwis should be happy with a top five finish Monday in Paris. This year’s Olympic squad is quite similar to its 2024 World Championship team including Hayden Wilde, Ainsley Thorpe and Nicole Van der Kaay. However, Dylan McCullough replaces Tayler Reid here.

This puzzling topsy turvy state of affairs in the Mixed Relay Triathlon world just illustrates the unique skills rewarding the non-stop, slam-bang sprint pace that makes fans go crazy for a high adrenaline spectacle that draws a whole new set of fans.

Image Courtesy of World Triathlon