– It was tough. I managed to get off the bike with a chance of victory. The race went fast. I he in the group that fought for a medal. It was tough the first five or six and then I was empty in the last two or three, says Blummenfelt to news. He and Vetle Thorn were eventually parked by several competitors, and there was no Norwegian medal on Thursday morning. Before the competition, Arild Tveiten was clear that both Blummenfelt and Thorn were good enough to fight for a medal. The former was the reigning Olympic champion, but he was unable to follow up his success from Tokyo. – He has not been able to elicit the raw running form he was in for a period, Post commented when the blow was about to become a fact. The Bergen native ended up in 12th place. Thorn ended up in 17th place. – He (Blummenfelt) does everything right on the run and does well in the transition zone. He is in the group that is in the bronze medal match, but he doesn’t have the form to keep up, says news’s triathlon expert Jørgen Gundersen. The Norwegian Olympic hopeful also admits that it eventually became too heavy. – I thought that now I have to try to go out at a speed that I can manage myself, and maybe fight for second or third place. But then Hayden came by, and I thought maybe I should try to hang on to him, but it went a little too fast, says Blummenfelt. It was Alex Yee who secured the gold after a monster finish where he passed Hayden Wilde just before the race. – So it was so dramatic. That shouldn’t happen, commented news’s Jann Post. Got in It was dramatic from the start, with several people losing either their swimming cap, swimming goggles – or both. Thorn was furthest ahead of the two Norwegians, while Blummenfelt had a somewhat messy start. At the first intermediate time, he was 37 seconds behind. – It has been approved, commented Gundersen, who went on to say that it was important to be under a minute behind before the cycling stage. The start of the cycling section went quickly for both Thorn and Blummenfelt. The former was part of the tight group, while the latter was chasing with just over half a minute’s distance. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB After a few rounds of cycling, Blummenfelt had regained the lead and he was far ahead in the field when they were about to start running. Both the two Norwegians stayed in the top four when they had to put on running shoes. – Enormously well delivered by both of them, commented Post. Slow change The change, however, did not go so well. It quickly became a gap for British Alex Yee and thus it became tough for the Norwegians. However, they fought for the bronze medal. – It’s the most extreme thing I’ve seen! Post exclaimed after Yee got the hatch. But he was eventually caught up by Hayden Wilde, and thus it suddenly became much tougher than expected for the Brit who went out in front. – It was surprising, commented news expert Jørgen Gundersen. However, there was no chance of a Norwegian medal after they had run a few kilometres. – It’s a Blummenfelt that has a bit of a hard day, said Post. It was nevertheless highly dramatic in the beginning. Wilde looked set to park Yee completely, but just before the run, the former cracked. Then the Brit grabbed the chance with both hands and secured Olympic gold. Although there were some bright spots during the run that gave a small hope of a medal, it did not last for the Bergen. On Tuesday, there was still trouble in the river Seine, with too high a level of bacteria. The triathlon was therefore cancelled, but the race was given the green light on Wednesday morning. Published 31.07.2024, at 12.28 Updated 31.07.2024, at 12.40 p.m
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The medal dream was dashed for Blummenfelt in the men’s triathlon – Olympics Paris 2024
