Alabama's Susan Williams Takes Olympic Bronze in the Triathlon
8/25/2004 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field, Cross Country
ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Australia's Loretta Harrop had been running alone for more than a half hour and, now, only a few hundred yards of pavement separated her from a triathlon gold medal.
Make that a few hundred yards and Austria's Kate Allen, who shot out of nowhere, pulled up next to Harrop and then left her behind.
"She was flying," Harrop said. "I never even saw her when she came past me."
Allen won the triathlon Wednesday after being closer to the rear of the pack for most of the race. She passed half the field during the final leg of the swim-cycle-run endurance test, finishing in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 43.45 seconds.
"I was to hoping to run into a top 10," Allen said after winning by 6.72 seconds. "It wasn't until the last 200 meters that I actually saw it was possible."
Susan (Bartholomew) Williams, the last American to qualify for the race, won the bronze despite crashing in the cycling race. U.S. teammates Barb Lindquist, ranked No. 1 in the world, finished ninth, and Sheila Taormina, who edged Harrop at the world championships, finished 23rd. Williams swam for the University of Alabama 1988-90 and 1992 and graduated with a degree in aerospace engineering in 1992.
"It's an incredible feeling," Williams said. "I wasn't supposed to be on the team, and to come away with a medal is just wonderful."
Williams stopped training for the 2000 Sydney Games when she found out she was pregnant. Her daughter - whose name is Sydney - came with her this year for the event.
Early in the cycling leg, Williams crashed but quickly got back on her feet.
"I got too close into the sideboard on the tight turn," Williams said. "I flew a little but it wasn't too bad - a few scratches and bruises, that's all."
Williams caught up to Lindquist and they formed a two-person chase group, trailing about a half-minute behind Harrop and Taormina for most of the cycling stage.
For a while, the trio of Americans were the only ones close to Harrop but toward the end, Williams' more celebrated teammates faded.
Williams stayed strong until the end, finishing 25.47 seconds back.
"It was the race of my life," she said.
