BEIJING (With files from Canadian Press and ITU) – While Australian Emma Snowsill was celebrating her gold medal victory at the Olympic Games, Canadian Lauren Groves was being taken to hospital to treat a broken elbow after crashing during Monday's women's triathlon in Beijing.
The Vancouver native was in a small group chasing the lead pack when one of the other cyclists went down in front of her and several of them tumbled to the ground.
"I was in shock at first," said Groves. "I don't remember much but the girl in front of me crashing and then looking and seeing bikes everywhere. I stood up and immediately started to cry - I couldn't move my elbow.
"There is nothing worse than not finishing. I wouldn't have cared if I finished last with a broken arm. But I needed another arm to climb those hills today."
Groves said she will stay in Beijing to cheer on her teammates.
"I'm going to stick around for the rest of the Olympics and cheer the guys on tomorrow," she said. "I will be at the closing ceremonies - I may just have my arm hung up."
Carolyn Murray of St-Albert, Alta., finished 29th, while Montreal's Kathy Tremblay was 31st.
"I was prepared for the heat in the run and bike but not the water, which was really warm and that told the day for me," Murray said. "It was tough but this is the Olympics and it is supposed to be tough. I think that's why the feeling of accomplishment must be so much greater for those who are on the podium today."
Tremblay started off really strong, coming out of the water in fourth place, but she fell to 18th during the bike leg and continued to fall back during the run. The first-time Olympian just ran out of steam.
"I had a great swim and I was with the top girls for the bike which was quite fast and then I started to feel cramps right away on the run," she said. “It was a pretty good race but my little chicken legs said nope today. I'm not going for the 10k."
Favourite Vanessa Fernandes of Portugal won the silver, while Australian Emma Moffatt came across the finish line about 20 seconds later for the bronze. Snowsill had time to grab a flag, pull up and wave for a bit before strolling across the finish line.
Ranked third in the world, the Aussie was the world champion in 2003, 2005 and 2006. She's a nine-time World Cup winner.
"It hasn't sunk in yet," said Snowsill. "I knew I had to get out on that run, coming down on the last lap I had to throw in whatever I had left. There is nothing like running scared. I had to make sure I didn't leave anything out on that field. I put every ounce of energy into this."
She seemed to have the race in hand after the first kilometre in the 10k run course. Already with a lead, she laid down a punishing pace and scorched the course, posting the fastest run split of the day at 33:17, the only woman to run sub-34:00.
When Fernandes came across the line, the two rivals and friends embraced. Snowsill also welcomed her teammate Moffatt when she came in for the bronze.
"For me this silver is like gold. It means a lot to me," said Fernandes. "I can't believe I won silver. I've gotten first many times, today I got second, but it's great. This was an incredible experience. I will never forget this."
American Laura Bennett was fourth, followed by Juri Ide of Japan who pulled off the surprise of the day by placing fifth. Defending gold medalist Kate Allen of Austria finished in 14th place. She headed out on the run course in 30th place but posted the third fastest run time of the day to finish inside the top-15.
The men’s triathlon goes Monday, August 18 at 10:00pm EST. It will be broadcast live on CBC.
Photo: Lauren Groves, by Laurie Alpern, Triathlon Canada
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