CHAOTIC scenes were on show at the Olympic triathlon in Paris as a host of crashes caused “carnage” in the women’s race.
The discipline had already been plunged into doubt when it was postponed on Tuesday due to high pollution levels in the River Seine.
And when it eventually did get underway on Wednesday, a strong current heavily impacted the swim.
But it was on the bike where the drama really began to unfold as the wet Parisian roads started to dry out, causing difficult conditions.
Guam’s Manami Iijima was the first to go down as the commentators gasped when they saw a replay of her hitting the cobblestones hard coming out of a corner.
Brazil’s Vittoria Lopes then went down in another crash, before Germany’s Lisa Tertsch and Belgium’s Jolien Vermeylen were also seen getting back on their bikes after a crash.
France’s Leonie Periault was also spotted hitting the deck as crashes continued in the field, with Norway’s Lotte Miller and Colombia’s Maria Carolina Velasquez Soto also seen on the floor.
A BBC commentator went on to describe the scene as “carnage” as multiple athletes were forced to pick themselves up from hard falls.
Luxembourg’s Jeanne Lehair was even seen in tears by the side of the road as she was consoled by a man checking on her well-being.
And former GB triathlete Annie Emerson felt both the conditions and magnitude of the occasion contributed to the number of crashes.
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Speaking on the BBC, she said: “It’s all happening here on the streets of Paris.
“The athletes will be a little bit twitchy and a little bit more nervous than usual.
“Sometimes that can make riding on conditions like this even more dangerous.”
France’s Cassandre Beaugrand sprinted to glory in front of a home crowd ahead of Switzerland’s Julie Derron.
GB’s Beth Potter came home in third to claim bronze.
