Paris 2024 Olympics: Triathlon mixed relay preview, full schedule, and live streaming guide
Sixteen nations have qualified to compete in the triathlon mixed relay at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on 5 August.
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United States will all have teams of four taking on a short‑course triathlon, featuring a 300m swim, 8km bike ride, and 2km run.
Teams of two men and two women will compete, with the race order reversed since Tokyo 2020 to man, woman, man, woman, with each triathlete tapping the hand of their teammate to set them on their way.
Nations who have secured a maximum quota of three male and three female athletes for Olympic triathlon competitions — men's and women's individual, and mixed team relay — can pick their four athletes for the latter closer to the event.
The athlete breaking the finishing tape to win gold for their team is swept up in the arms of their excitable compatriots, before having time to draw breath, in a whirl of screaming and shouting after 90 minutes of successful exertion.
Or such was the case when Great Britain won the inaugural edition in Japan. USA claimed silver, with France securing bronze. But the hosts will not want anyone but themselves crossing the finish line first across the iconic Pont Alexandre III at their home Games, or have any other nation stand atop the podium, which has the Eiffel Tower as its backdrop.
Below, we take a closer look at the stars to watch out for in Paris, a full schedule and how to watch the action.
Triathlon mixed relay stars to watch at Paris 2024 Olympics
Two members of Great Britain's gold-medal-winning team from Japan are back to stake their claim as back-to-back Olympic champions with Alex Yee and Georgia Taylor-Brown, both individual silver medallists in Tokyo, returning to the fray.
Yee won a second consecutive Olympic gold medal in Paris in the men's individual race on 1 August in a dramatic finale, overtaking New Zealand's Hayden Wilde in the latter stages, while Beth Potter secured bronze in the women's event.
Jonny Brownlee was edged out of the Paris 2024 squad by Sam Dickinson in a final throw of the dice in June, making it the first Olympics since Athens 2004 there hasn't been one of the Brownlee brothers in the British team**.**
France's team is so strong, meanwhile, that there's no room for the 2019 and 2020 world champion Vincent Luis, who was looking to compete at a fourth Olympic Games.
Instead, the world-ranked No. 1 and 2 in the men's discipline, Leo Bergere and Pierre Le Corre, respectively, and the top two in the women's world rankings, Cassandre Beaugrand (No. 1) and Emma Lombardi (No. 2), are quite the formidable quartet. Beaugrand will be aiming for a second gold medal having won the women's race in front of her home fans.
France's Cassandre Beaugrand, pictured at the World Triathlon Olympic Games Test Event in Paris in August 2023, is ranked No. 1 in the world in women's triathlon.
Should any of them falter, Dorian Coninx, the reigning world triathlon champion — who made the team despite breaking his wrist and elbow in a crash in May — and Leonie Periault, who took a first World Triathlon Championships Series victory in May, are waiting in the wings.
Team USA is also bursting with talent.
Taylor Knibb is so good on the bike leg that she qualified for Paris in the road race, before ultimately deciding to concentrate solely on triathlon. Morgan Pearson returns for a second Olympic Games with a bounce in his step after claiming the men's title in Yokohama in May, the first American man to hit a top-tier podium since 2009.
Relay specialist Seth Rider is also in the team as is Taylor Spivey, who was fourth in the 2022 World Championships.
Other nations that could challenge include reigning relay world champions Germany, who also won the mixed relay at last year’s Paris test event, while the self-titled Belgium Hammers will be looking to nail an outside chance of a relay medal courtesy of Jolien Vermeylen, Claire Michel, Marten Van Riel and Jelle Geens.
Never count out the Antipodeans of Australia and New Zealand led by Matt Hauser for the former and that man Wilde, also a bronze medallist in Tokyo, for the latter.
Full triathlon mixed relay schedule at Olympic Games 2024
Triathlon mixed relay is due to take place at 08:00 local time on Monday, 5 August during Paris 2024. Click here for a detailed schedule.
How to watch Paris 2024 triathlon mixed relay live
All the action from Paris 2024, including triathlon mixed relay, can be watched via media rights holders (MRHs).
MRHs include Nine in Australia, Globo in Brazil, CBC in Canada, CCTV in People's Republic of China, Fuji TV/NHK/Nippon TV/TBS/TV Asahi/TV Tokyo in Japan, SKY NZ in New Zealand, SuperSport in South Africa, NBC in the United States and Discovery Eurosport across Europe, alongside France Télévisions in France, ARD/ZDF in Germany and BBC Sport in the United Kingdom, among others.
Check listings in other regions for your local broadcaster.