The Olympic triathlon test/qualifying event in Tokyo last week sure caused quite a bit of controversy. First, they had to shorten the running portion from 10 km to 5 km because of the excessive heat (which is looking more and more like it's going to be a serious problem next summer). They almost had to cut the swimming leg in half, too, but the water temperature of 30.3 degrees Celsius was just under the allowable limit (30.9 degrees, which is 87.6 Fahrenheit!).
But it was the finish of the race itself that drew the biggest reaction. Two British women--Jess Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown--were so far ahead of the rest of the field that they joined hands and crossed the finish line together. Instead of finishing 1-2 (or tied for first), though, they were both disqualified. Which was completely justified.
International Triathlon Union rules very clearly state that "athletes who finish in a contrived tie situation, where no effort to separate their finish times has been made will be DSQ." That's exactly what happened here. Hence, they were both DQ'ed. I don't see the problem here.
My opinion is not shared by everyone, however, which I knew it wouldn't be. In fact, there was an article on ESPNW that called the whole thing a "disgrace." Although, the author of that article fails to mention a very important fact that contradicts her entire point. And I'm not even sure she realizes it. But she's very wrong about a very key detail of the story.
Her outrage was mainly directed at the fact that "This disqualification not only stripped Learmonth and Taylor-Brown of their rightful spots atop the podium, it also prevented them from qualifying outright for Britain's triathlon team for next year's Tokyo Olympics."
Except it didn't. Because British Triathlon decided before the race that since the running course had been shortened, it wouldn't count for Olympic qualification purposes. Thus, Learmonth and Taylor-Brown's DQ's, which also moved teammate Vicky Holland from fifth to third, are irrelevant. And, by the way, Holland was the only Brit actually eligible to qualify for the Olympics in the race. But that's what the ESPNW article would have you believe.
Under British Triathlon's selection criteria, a medalist in the test event would've earned an automatic Olympic spot only if that athlete had finished on the podium at a race in Yokohama earlier this year OR the 2016 Olympics. The medalists in Yokohama were all Americans, but Holland won bronze in Rio, so her updated third place finish would've been enough to qualify under normal circumstances.
However, they also say in the British selection documents that those criteria wouldn't apply if the results are significantly impacted by "environmental conditions/exceptional circumstances which result in substantial alteration to the race format." I'd call cutting the running portion in half a "substantial alteration." As a result, the final standings of Thursday's race had no bearing whatsoever on who makes the British team (and Holland was the only athlete affected by that decision anyway). That kinda changes the narrative, doesn't it?
Let's for a minute assume it did matter for Olympic selection, though. What if they had said that the top British finisher (and only the top finisher) would earn an automatic spot? Would they have done it then? Of course not! Or, let's fast forward 11 months to the Tokyo Games themselves. Would they be fighting for the medal? You bet your ass they would! The ultimate goal for any athlete is to win Olympic gold. Teammates or not, I'm going for it.
No one was stopping them from embracing at the line and celebrating their 1-2 finish (which the ESPNW article also tried to imply). If they had both finished separately, then hugged right after they crossed the line, it wouldn't have been a problem. How many times have we seen that exact scene? The gold medalist waiting at the finish line to greet the silver medalist or a teammate.
And, to be clear, it's not the hand-holding that was the problem. At least not completely. It's their decision to finish simultaneously. The whole point of competition is to try and beat everybody else. Voluntarily finishing in a tie spits right in the face of that (it's not like one was injured and the other was helping her across the line).
For their part, Taylor-Brown and Learmonth took the incident in stride. On Twitter, Taylor-Brown responded to another triathlete's post about the situation by simply saying, "Sucks for us, but it's just one race, we promise not to do that again." Sounds to me like they knew exactly what they were doing and accept the consequences (which were clearly stated in the rule book, not arbitrarily decided). So why can't other people who aren't affected by it at all?
If you were looking for another chapter to this story, you got one on Sunday. This time, Taylor-Brown and Learmonth were teammates on Great Britain's mixed relay squad, which finished second behind France. So, even after the individual DQ's, they both ended up taking home a medal anyway.
Great Britain will be favored to medal in the mixed relay when the event makes its Olympic debut next summer. Taylor-Brown and Learmonth may be on that team. Or they may not. The country is simply that strong in triathlon. But Thursday's DQ's have no bearing on whether or not they make the team. So please let's stop acting like the do!
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