Davis pleased to survive ‘hardest race of my career’

THE Chinese, a nation which invented water torture, must have received perverse pleasure in watching yesterday’s Olympic Women’s Triathlon final.

The three component course was set up in picturesque countryside an hour outside Beijing: a hulking dam provided the backdrop on one side while a disused amusement park sitting in the shade across the Ming Tomb reservoir was an indication of former joys and glories.

But there was nothing idyllic about an event made up of a 1.5km swim, a 40km cycle and a 10km run. Throw in relentless sun and suffocating humidity, and you understand why the sadists were smiling yesterday.