Kristian Blummenfelt broke British dominance at the summer games and is Olympic triathlon champion. The Norwegian won on Monday in Tokyo’s Odaiba Marine Park by eleven seconds over Briton Alex Yee, whose compatriot Alistair Brownlee had triumphed in London and Rio. The New Zealander Hayden Wilde secured bronze. The German starters Jonas Schomburg and Justus Nieschlag came in 38th and 40th. Schomburg was slowed down by a fall on the bike course.
“There was a wave in front of me, I couldn’t evade and hit the bars. As a result, I lost touch. I hope the injuries aren’t too bad,” said Schomburg. “I then tried to keep the Olympic spirit high and to finish the race properly. I cut everything out on the running track.” From a German perspective, the race started promisingly. Schomburg came out of the water in third after swimming 1.5 kilometers and was in a cycling group with Jonathan Brownlee, who later became fifth. However, this was caught at the halfway point of the 40 kilometers and a little later Schomburg had massive bad luck.
The Austrian Alois Knabl tore off the rear derailleur right in front of him and the 29-year-old Hanoverian lost contact with the main field, where only Nieschlag was now represented. Nieschlag switched to the final ten kilometers as 30th in the group. However, the 29-year-old from Lehrte had no chance when the strong runners at the front tightened around Yee. Blummenfelt made the decisive attack about one kilometer from the finish and was already celebrating the greatest success of his career 200 meters from the finish.
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Handball: France remains on the road to success in the Olympic tournament. The team around Nikola Karabatic, who is playing his fifth summer games in Tokyo, defeated Brazil in the German preliminary round group A with 34:29 (16:13) and thus underscored its medal ambitions. For the French, who won silver in Rio in 2016, it was the second victory in the second game after the equally safe 33:27 against Argentina. The Olympic champion’s top scorers against Brazil in 2008 and 2012 were Karabatic, Michael Guigou and Nicolas Tournat, each with four goals. France are opponents of the German team on Wednesday.