Loretta Harrop

In Athens, on the course on which Michellie Jones won the test event the previous year, Loretta Harrop emulated Jones’s feat from Sydney 2000 by winning the silver medal. Harrop, the 1999 world champion who had finished fifth in Sydney, broke away on a steep hill in the 40km bike leg and led the field into the final 10km run, but was eventually passed within 200 metres of the finishing line by the Geelong-born Austrian, Kate Allen. Allen, who married an Austrian in 1999, had been over two minutes behind Harrop at the transition from the bicycle leg to the run. It was a gutsy display of front running from Harrop and she was satisfied that she couldn't have given any more.