Two triathletes who live and train in Leeds have been stripped of their winners medals at a key Olympic qualification event after crossing the finish line while holding hands.
Jess Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown both train at the Leeds Triathlon Centre in Adel and are bidding for a place in the GB team at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
In the early hours of Thursday morning, the pair approached the finish line at the 2019 World Triathlon Olympic Qualification Event in Tokyo while holding hands.
A photo finish found that Learmonth had just about taken first place - but the duo were later told they had been disqualified for breaking race rules, the BBC reports.
Learmonth and Taylor-Brown appealed the decision, but were told by race officials that they had broken International Triathlon Union (ITU) competition rule 2.11.f, which states 'athletes who finish in a contrived tie situation, where no effort to separate their finish times has been made, will be disqualified'.
It meant that Bermuda's Flora Duffy was upgraded to first, while Team GB's Vicky Holland was handed third place.
However, Holland later told BBC Sport that her teammates 'deserved' to win in the searing heat.
She said: "I really feel for Jess and Georgia because they raced exceptionally well today and I feel like they absolutely smashed it and deserved the first and second finish."
in June this year, with Learmonth coming third.
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