The race began with a false start, as a media boat blocked about a third of the field from entering the water.[2] After the restart, the field remained close together coming out of the water. In the cycling leg, a group of 10 broke away for the first few laps but the chasing pack eventually reeled them by the end of the fifth lap to form a lead group of 37 triathletes. On the last lap, Andrea Salvisberg broke away solo to lead by 16 seconds heading into the second transition, but he was caught by the rest of the field on the first lap of the running leg.[3] The lead group remained together until the end of the third lap, when Alex Yee, Kristian Blummenfelt, and Hayden Wilde surged ahead. In the final mile, Blummenfelt accelerated away from the other two to take the gold medal. Yee finished 11 seconds later to take the silver, with Wilde completing the podium a further nine seconds back.[4]
Course
The event took place at the Odaiba Marine Park and was 51.5 kilometres (32.0 mi) long along a flat course.[4] Competitors began with a 1.5-kilometre (0.93 mi) swimming leg, consisting of a 950-metre (3,120 ft) lap followed by a shorter 550-metre (1,800 ft) lap. Then, they took on the 40-kilometre (25 mi) cycling leg, made of eight laps of a 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) course. Finally, competitors finished with four 2.5-kilometre (1.6 mi) laps that made up the 10-kilometre (6.2 mi) running leg.[5][6][7]
^Pearson received a 15-second penalty for placing his equipment outside the box during the first transition. This penalty was served at the start of the running leg.[8]
^Schoeman withdrew during the running leg due to an ankle injury.[9]
^Knabl had a mechanical problem during the cycling leg and was unable to continue.[8]