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Tokyo: Jake Birtwhistle was kicked in the face and broke his nose. And that was before the triathlon officially began. Triathlon is not meant to be a contact sport.
In farcical scenes at the start of the men’s triathlon on Tokyo Bay, the starter’s gun went off but half the field were left standing on the pontoon with a large boat in their way. So one half of the field jumped in and the other half stood there wondering what to do.
The field was recalled after swimming 50 metres or so and the race was re-set.
Half of the field were left on the pontoon at the first start of the swim leg of the men’s individual triathlon at the 2020 Summer Olympics on Monday.