The triathlon mixed relay made its debut at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, pitting teams of two men and two women from each country on a fast-paced, sprint-heavy race through a course measuring about one-fifth the length of the individual event.
Britain won gold with a time of 1 hour 23 minutes 41 seconds, finishing 14 seconds ahead of the United States team, as France secured bronze.
The Japanese team of Yuko Takahashi, Kenji Nener, Niina Kishimoto and Makoto Odakura, finished 13th with a time of 1 hour 27 minutes 2 seconds.
Japan sought to seize early momentum in the race by leading off with aces Takahashi and Nener, who finished their legs in 8th and 9th place, respectively.
But a misstep dashed Japan's hopes of finishing in the top-8, when Nener and Kishimoto tagged off slightly outside the exchange zone, incurring a 10-second penalty. The penalty proved insurmountable for Kishimoto and anchor Odakura, as the pack of medal contenders pulled away to take a commanding lead.
"I guess they felt stressed trying to make up the [10-second] difference," said coach Toshiyuki Nakayama.
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