Triathlon: Swiss woman takes gold

1:30 PM

Swiss Brigitte McMahon today dashed Australian hopes by winning the first Olympic Games triathlon around downtown Sydney.

McMahon and Australian world No 1 Michellie Jones put on a thrilling duel over the final 3km of the run before the Swiss runner pulled away with half a kilometre to go.

She completed the 1500m swim, 40km cycle and 10km run event in 2hr 00.04 sec. with Jones 2 second behind.

There was a second medal for Switzerland, with Magali Messmer taking bronze, 26sec further back.

After five runners opened out a gap on the rest of the field during the second third of the run, Jones and McMahon put on spurt that carried them clear, before they matched stride for stride.

New Zealand's sole representative Evelyn Williamson finished 22nd.

- NZPA