TV star’s daughter adds to Team GB medal tally as Brits start day with a bang
Team GB started Wednesday with a pair of Olympics medals, with Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix and Lois Toulson matching the bronze won by triathlete Beth Potter just moments earlier in Paris.
Spendolini-Sirieix – the daughter of TV star Fred Sirieix of First Dates fame – and Toulson pulled off a superb final dive to claim third place in the women’s 10m synchro behind China and North Korea.
It was Team GB’s third medal in the diving, following the silver claimed by Tom Daley and Noah Williams in the men’s 10m synchro and the bronze of women’s 3m springboard duo Tasmin Harper and Scarlette Mew Jensen.
Potter declared herself happy to hang on for a bronze medal after Olympics organisers gave the women’s triathlon the go-ahead this morning in Paris.
Potter is the world champion and won last year’s test event in the French capital but could not keep pace with home favourite Cassandre Beaugrand on the run.
The 32-year-old from Glasgow finished 15 seconds back in third, behind Switzerland’s Julie Derron, and showed grit to fend off another Frenchwoman, Emma Lombardi, for bronze.
“This day has been in the calendar for a long time and to come away with a medal, I’m just over the moon,” said Potter.
“I just knew that I could tough it out longer than someone else. Gold was in my mind but I just wasn’t good enough today. I’m happy. Gold would have been great but I got a medal.”
Defending Olympic champion Dame Flora Duffy, of Bermuda, finished fifth after expending energy building a short-lived lead on the swim in the Seine.
Georgia Taylor-Brown, silver medallist at Tokyo 2020, finished in sixth, while the other Team GB entrant, Kate Waugh, was 15th.
Not until early this morning did organisers confirm that the race would go ahead after two days of practice and competition were cancelled because of poor water quality in the Seine.
Potter trains with the Brownlee brothers in Leeds, and two-time Olympic champion Alistair was among those watching from the Paris roadside.
“The Brownlees have been a massive part of my journey, and they’re the reason I moved to do triathlon,” she added.
“I train with Alistair day in, day out. He’s such a big part of my journey, and Jonny as well. They’re always the first to message me before and after races and they believe in me.”
The men’s race, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday, started later this morning. Team GB’s Alex Yee was the pre-event favourite.