page_title: Triathlon at the 2012 Summer Olympics
section_title: Course
hierarchical_section_title: Triathlon at the 2012 Summer Olympics / Course
caption_attribution_description: An aerial shot of Hyde Park, London
context_page_description: The triathlon events at the 2012 Summer Olympics were held in Hyde Park in London, United Kingdom, with the women's triathlon held on 4 August and the men's on 7 August. 110 triathletes from 39 countries competed with 55 men and 55 women competing. The races were held over the "international distance" and consisted of 1.5 kilometres swimming, 43 kilometres road cycling, and 10 kilometres road running.
  The men's race was held on 7 August 2012. A group of six finished the 1,500-metre swim leg in a lead group. A large lead group of athletes were together at the end of the cycling leg but Alistair Brownlee broke away on the run to win the gold medal with Javier Gómez in second and Jonathan Brownlee in third. The women's race was held on 4 August 2012. A group of seven women finished the swim leg in a lead group. A large lead group of 22 athletes were together at the end of the cycling leg with a gap of over a minute and a half over the rest of the field. A group of five athletes formed on the running leg; Nicola Spirig, Lisa Nordén, Erin Densham, Sarah Groff and Helen Jenkins and held together for most of the run.
context_section_description: The events were contested in Hyde Park in Central London, a park opened in 1637. The 1.5-kilometre (0.93 mi) swim started on the north side of The Serpentine and the course was just one lap. After competing in the London leg of the 2011 ITU World Championship Series on the Olympic course Laura Bennett said that the swim was the hardest part of the course: "The swim was the most difficult, it was hard to get away from everyone." Erin Densham said that: "The swim is going to play a big role. They have said before you can’t win the race in the swim but you can definitely lose it.  Honestly there is no knowing how it's going to go but it's going to be hard and fast."
  After the swim there was then a 200 metres (220 yd) transition zone in front of the main grandstand. The competitors then started a 43-kilometre (27 mi) bike leg consisting of seven 6.137-kilometre (3.813 mi) laps. The cyclists first rode down Serpentine Road towards West Carriage Drive before changing direction and cycling to Hyde Park Corner. The course then quickly turned left towards Hyde Park to go past Buckingham Palace on Constitution Hill. Once passing Buckingham Palace, the cyclists turned and went back towards Hyde Park and eventually crossed through the transition area before starting the next lap.
  The final discipline was the run, four-laps of a 2.5-kilometre (1.6 mi) loop around The Serpentine on flat ground.
  The course was designed to be as spectator-friendly as possible. The athletes passed through the main grandstand area 12 times. The triathlon events were two of the few events with free viewing points.
caption: Hyde Park
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