Spivey Wins Silver Medal in Triathlon Mixed Relay at Paris Olympics
8/5/2024 12:00:00 PM | Swimming and Diving
PARIS, France — Taylor Spivey is an Olympic silver medalist.
The 2014 Cal Poly graduate and former Mustang swimmer from 2009-14 helped Team USA capture silver in the triathlon mixed-team relay at the 2024 Olympics on Monday morning in Paris.
USA’s relay team of Seth Rider, Spivey, Morgan Pearson and Taylor Knibb posted a time of 1 hour, 25 minutes and 40 seconds, finishing just 1/100th of a second behind gold medal-winning Germany (1:25.39) and edging out Great Britain for silver in a photo finish eerily similar to the one the Olympics saw in the men’s 100-meter dash Sunday night in Paris. After crossing the finish line, the race scoreboard showed Great Britain earning second place, but after review the U.S. relay team was crowned silver medalists. The U.S. and Great Britain were awarded the exact same finishing time (1:25.40).
I think we’re the happiest silver medal athletes in the history of the Games.Taylor Spivey, 2014 Cal Poly grad
“We were lining up for the podium when they told us we had silver,” Spivey said after the event. “So, I think we’re the happiest silver medal athletes in the history of the Games.”
Spivey is only the fourth Cal Poly alum to win an Olympic medal, joining Karen Kraft (1991 grad; 1996 silver medalist, 2000 bronze medalist in pairs rowing), Gina Miles (1997 grad, 2008 silver medalist in equestrian) and Stephanie Brown Trafton (2004 grad, 2008 Olympic gold medalist in discus). Brown Trafton is Cal Poly’s only Olympic gold medalist.
“It feels so incredible,” Spivey said. “All of us didn't have the best individual race. I don't know why. We just couldn't put it together. But we could put it together today, and we made it count. To walk away with the silver medal is really special.”
This marks the second successive Olympic Games that Team USA has secured the silver in the triathlon mixed relay after the event made its Olympic debut in 2021 at the COVID-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“My family is here watching and because I live in Europe I have so many friends here,” Spivey said. ”A lot of my friends flew over from the U.S., and I have some from Girona, Spain, where I currently live as well. It was special to have a medal-winning performance in front of them all.”
Spivey, who was ranked fourth in the women’s World Triathlon rankings entering the Olympics, was responsible for the second leg of the U.S. mixed-team relay, which consists of two men and two women. Each athlete on the relay completed a 300-meter swim, a 7-kilometer bike ride and a 1.8-kilometer run.
Just five days ago in Paris, Spivey — widely regarded as the most consistent triathlete in the World Triathlon Championship Series — made her Olympic debut in the women’s triathlon and was the first American to cross the finish line in the event, placing 10th.
The 33-year-old won a silver medal at the 2020 Mixed Relay World Championships while representing the U.S. and secured a bronze medal in the event in 2022. During her final year at Cal Poly, Spivey claimed the 2014 USA Triathlon Women’s Collegiate National Championship.
