Wickham's musings from Chalke

This was the first time I have watched a triathlon more or less from start to finish. It took place early in the morning but the temperature rose to the high eighties Fahrenheit during the cycle ride and run.

At the end of the 1500 m swim around a bay in warm water without the usual wetsuits the swimmers were fairly close together. An Australian girl called Loretta Harrap was second at the transition where they put on helmets and get on their bikes which already have the shoes fixed onto the pedals.

Loretta and another girl led for the whole of the 40 km ride. They exchanged the lead to help each other keep ahead of the pack. There were five circuits of eight kilometres and near the start of each circuit there was a long 1 in 6 hill then a short flat stretch then a short 1 in 5 hill.

Most of the girls were quite slight in stature, slim with hardly noticeable breasts showing through their swimsuits which they wore for all events. They had lovely thighs and buttocks, especially Loretta, and these were shown in close-up during the bike ride by the camera on the motorcycle escort.

The girl Loretta was with on the cycle ride seemed to have something wrong with her leg or ankle which slowed her at the end of the ride and Loretta pulled ahead at the end of the last lap. The other girl pulled out of the race during the run.

Loretta was well ahead during the whole of the 10 km run which was three circuits of relatively flat road near the bay. She wasn’t in any trouble and may have been coasting to victory. She didn’t realise that Kate Allen who was tenth I think at the start of the run was catching up fast. Kate passed the second and third place runners easily towards the end of the third lap and closed on Loretta. She overtook Loretta at a sprint during the last fifty yards. As many runners find at the end of a long distance race Loretta could only manage to keep her steady pace. Kate made up three minutes during the run. Kate literally came out of nowhere and Loretta obviously had no idea that Kate was gaining on her at all, let alone so fast.

Everyone felt very sorry for Loretta, including me. She must have thought the gold medal was really in the bag. During the men’s triathlon the next day a commentator said that the competitors are normally briefed by a coach about the gap between them and another runner but Loretta was obviously completely in the dark or badly informed, possibly because Kate made up so much ground during the last lap well away from the transition area where most of the coaches were.