Paris triathlon: Beth Potter “super happy” with battling bronze
The Scot ultimately had to settle for the third spot on the podium, but was rightly proud of her Olympic triathlon debut... and it's not finished yet
Beth Potter might have fallen short of the triathlon gold medal she was aiming for, but if an Olympic bronze holds any disappointment at all, it only underlines how far she’s come in the sport.
The reigning world champion just missed out in the closing stages of the 10km run as France’s Cassandre Beaugrand gave the home nation plenty to cheer, and Switzerland’s Julie Derron delivered a surprise silver.
“Gold was in my mind but I wasn’t good enough today,” Potter reflected afterwards. “But I’m super happy. It’s a bronze medal at the Olympics.”
A Rio Olympian in 2016, Potter switched from the track in 2017. A strong swimmer as a junior, but with little cycling pedigree, she began to forge her way in the sport, improving steadily year-on-year.
The Tokyo Olympics were always likely to come too soon, so Paris was always the target. Arriving as world champion and having won on the same course in last year’s test event, there was little to split the Scot and Beaugrand as pre-race favourites.
That was still the case after the 1.5km swim – Potter exited the water in sixth – and 40km bike, where she showed just how far she’s evolved in the sport by driving the pace at the front.”
The atmosphere helped. “It was a wall of noise,” she added. ”There was not one part of that course that was quiet.” Unlike anything she’d experienced before? Not quite. “Hampden Park 2014”. The Commonwealth Games on home soil where she finished fifth in the 10,000m in a new personal best.
There was also a word of thanks, as there has been several times over the past few years, for the Brownlee brothers, Alistair and Jonny.
“They have been a massive part of my journey and the reason I moved to do triathlon,” she added. “I train with Alistair day-in-day out and I moved in with Jonny when I first moved to Leeds. They are always the first to message me before and after races. They believe in me.”
Potter’s attention is now likely to turn to the mixed team relay on Monday where – if the individual performances are taken into account – it’s likely that she’ll be joined by sixth-place finisher Georgia Taylor-Brown.
“I’m hoping I’m picked,” she said. “But I will take a couple of days to enjoy this and then reset and go again.”
Tim Heming
Freelance triathlon journalist 
