Team England were the unsurprising yet thoroughly deserved winners at the Commonwealth Games mixed relay event in Sutton Park, Birmingham, today. The winning quartet of Alex Yee, Sophie Coldwell, Samuel Dickinson and Georgia Taylor-Brown returning the title to England after losing it to the Aussies in the 2018 Games.
Olympic mixed team relay gold medallists Yee and Taylor-Brown, fresh (ish) from winning respective gold and silver two days earlier, sandwiched Coldwell and Dickinson for the 4 x 300m swim, 5km bike and 2km run format.
The four English athletes, buoyed by the six-deep crowds in and around the park, put in an almost embarrassing performance, leaving the competition in their dust to add another gold to their straining-at-the-hinges trophy cabinet.
Non Stanford ran through on the anchor leg to give Wales their first Commonwealth mixed relay medal with silver. Australia followed shortly behind for bronze.
What happened on the first leg of the Commonwealth Games mixed relay triathlon?
South Africa's Jamie Riddle made light work of the first 300m swim, but was soon joined on the bike by Friday's silver medallist Hayden Wilde (NZL) and Yee, the trio working hard over the local roads of Sutton Coldfield to leave transition with 11secs in hand.
As in Friday's men's race, Yee positioned himself just in front of Wilde, with Riddle unable to match two of the world's best triathlon runners ahead.
Yee, looking incredibly strong, opened the throttle to kick clear of the Kiwi to take complete control of the race.
Aussie Jacob Birtwhistle, meanwhile, moved into bronze-medal position.
What happened on the second leg of the Commonwealth Games mixed relay triathlon?
With a 20sec lead, Yee handed over to one of the sport's top swimmers, Coldwell. Next up for NZ was Nicole van der Kaay and for Australia, Natalie van Coevorden.
Van Coevorden overtook van der Kaay to move the Aussies into silver, while Coldwell shot off up the road for a solo 5km bike stint.
Joining the chasers was Friday's bronze medallist Beth Potter (SCO) and Wales's Olivia Mathias, working hard as a four to reduce the deficit to Coldwell.
Out of T2, and it was Mathias to the front of the chasers, keen to capitalise on her seventh place in the individual event two days prior.
As Coldwell tagged Sam Dickinson, the waiting third-leggers could only watch as the clock ticked on.
27secs later and it was Scotland's Potter just a whisper ahead of Wales's Mathias, who was 1sec in front of New Zealand's van der Kaay.
England, Scotland, Wales leading into the third leg.
What happened on the third leg of the Commonwealth Games mixed relay triathlon?
Dickinson maintained the 27sec lead out of the swim for England, as Taylor Reid blasted into second for NZ, Cameron Main in third for Scotland and Dominic Coy for Wales.
Into T2 and the gap had grown to 31secs, Dickinson putting in a brilliant performance racing solo for England.
Then, in close succession, came Reid, Main, Coy and Aussie Matt Hauser (bronze medallist on Friday) who had clawed his way back into contention for the defending champions.
Hauser soon propelled to the front to settle into silver-medal position but was joined by Coy and Reid as they ran in for the handover.
What happened on the fourth leg of the Commonwealth Games mixed relay triathlon?
The cushion by now was down to 16secs, Dickinson having struggled to maintain the pace on the final lap. But he passed the baton to Taylor-Brown, who'd made the call to race sans wetsuit.
It paid off, increasing the gap to 24secs out of the water and with no wetsuit to remove.
Australia's Sophie Linn, who finished fifth on Friday and clocked the second fastest run split behind Flora Duffy, was out next alongside Wales's Non Stanford and New Zealand's Andrea Hansen (née Hewitt). The trio racing now for silver and bronze.
No change on the bike, as Taylor-Brown hit the 2km run with a whopping 1min advantage over the chasing three. The first to go in that group was Hansen, leaving Stanford and Linn to duke it out for silver.
Taylor-Brown cruised through the finish with a huge smile on her face to be greeted by equally jubilant teammates. 46secs later and Stanford was through for silver, a phenomenal result for Team Wales having sprinted clear of Linn on the final turn.
Top image: David Ramos/Getty Images
