Tokyo 2020 - Triathlon - Source: Getty — Morgan Pearson at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics - Getty Images

"We don't do this to get rich" - Morgan Pearson hopes triathlon mixed silver 'inspires the next generation' in United States

Modified Aug 05, 2024 16:33 GMT

Morgan Pearson spoke about winning silver in the triathlon mixed relay event at the Paris Olympics. The 31-year-old's teammates were Seth Rider, Taylor Knibb and Taylor Spivey, who made her Olympic debut.

Spivey finished in tenth place in the women's triathlon. She completed the event through the heart of Paris in one hour, 57 minutes, and 11 seconds, and finished ahead of all her compatriots. Taylor Knibb finished 19th in 1:58:37 and Kirsten Kasper finished 49th with a time of 2:06:38.

On Monday (August 5), the 33-year-old put that disappointment behind her and helped Team USA win the silver medal in the mixed relay. After the event, Spivey said that being part of a team race was a lot more difficult than racing individually.

"I personally think it's a lot more pressure, because you're not just racing for yourself, you're racing for a team. You want to give the best race you can and not let the team down," she told reporters.

Her teammate Morgan Pearson hoped that their medal at the Paris Olympics would inspire the next generation of triathletes in the United States.

"Hopefully it inspires the next generation. Draft-legal triathlon in the US is really not popular. We all sacrifice a lot to do this sport. We're not doing this to get rich but hopefully, with this medal, there's a new crop of athletes that are excited about the sport," he said.

Morgan Pearson: "It will be interesting to see how many athletes get sick in the next couple of days"

Seth Rider (R), Taylor Spivey (2nd L), Morgan Pearson (2nd R), and Taylor Knibb (L) - Getty Images

Swimming in the river Seine has generally been off-limits since 1923 due to the toxic nature of the water. The city, however, spent around €1.4 billion to try to clean it up as the Olympic swimming events were scheduled to be held in the river.

With the swimming portion of the mixed relay triathlon taking place in the river, Taylor Spivey stated that they were happy with the water conditions.

"We were happy with the water conditions; that the E. coli levels were acceptable and the current wasn't too strong. There were a lot of factors that could have made this race not go through, just because (the organizers) wanted it (in this setting), but luckily everything fell into place and here we are sitting with some medals," she said.

Morgan Pearson, however, took a more cautious approach and said that only time will tell if any of the athletes that swam in the river fall sick or not.

"I think they could've invested more in having clean water. It seems like they were just hoping for the best, knowing the athletes are going to do it because it's the Olympics. It just seemed like a bit of a crap shoot whether we race or not. It would rain one day, the water quality would get bad, and then it would slowly (get better)," he said.

"They have been talking about this for a couple of years now, and we are at the week of the Olympics and they were just hoping for the best. I think it will be interesting to see how many athletes get sick in the next couple of days," he added.

Team USA was joined on the podium by gold medallist Germany and bronze medal-winning Great Britain.

The Americans did not have the best of outings in triathlon when it came to the individual events, with Taylor Spivey's tenth-place finish being the nation's best performance.

In the men's triathlon, Seth Rider finished 29th after clocking 1:47:53 while Morgan Pearson ended in 31st position, having taken 1:48:26 to finish the swim, bike and run.