Gateshead Olympian "disappointed" after missing out on triathlon medal
The athlete came into the games as Super League Triathlon champion from 2023.
Gateshead Olympian Kate Waugh has talked of her disappointment after missing out on the top places during the Triathlon event on Wednesday morning.
The event was one of the first to start on Wednesday morning in Paris with participants left in limbo for much of the week due to water contamination issues in the Seine, where the swimming part of the event was due to take place.
After the Paris water was given the all clear, Waugh and her fellow Team GB athletes Beth Potter and Georgia Taylor-Brown took to the river following heavy early morning rain.
The conditions didn’t help during the cycling stage and, while Potter was able to medal with a third place finish, Gateshead’s Waugh finished in 15th of 51 finishers.
Speaking on the BBC coverage after the event, Wough said: “I’m really disappointed. I don’t know, I was in a really good position up to the first buoy then it just went a bit backwards.
“I got caught in the chaos that is the first buoy of the triathlon and I decided to just go all in on the bike and try and minimise the gap.
“I thought ‘I’m out the medals now so I may as well just go all in and got to the end.’”
The event was won by France’s Cassandre Beaugrand in her home games.