After days of uncertainty and the suspension of water-related activities on the Seine and the triathlon, the women's triathlon went ahead as planned in central Paris.

Beaugrand, a young athlete who grew up in the suburbs of Paris, only broke away from the lead group in a nail-biting final lap of the running leg, before collapsing to her knees in ecstasy as she crossed the finish line. 

The 27-year-old triumphed after a remarkably close finish, opening up a gap in the final stages of the race over Switzerland's Julie Derron, who finished second, and Britain's Beth Potter, who came third.

Beaugrand, who hails from Livry-Gargan, was no stranger to this type of competition as she was competing in her third consecutive Olympic Games and was no stranger to the podium after winning bronze in the mixed relay at Tokyo 2020.

The first triumph of the day was that the race could be held at all, something that had been a major concern for the organisers despite their confidence that it would go ahead. Relief came in the early hours of Wednesday morning when laboratory results showed that the water in the Seine was safe to swim in, despite the uncertainty caused by heavy rain in the early hours of the morning in Paris up to the time of sampling.

The storm had overwhelmed the city's sewage system in the days leading up to the event, despite a recent €1.4 billion environmental upgrade of the Seine. This led to untreated sewage being discharged, raising E. coli levels above the permitted limits.

The political cost of cancelling the race would have been enormous, especially with public opinion critical of the Olympics and the use of public funds.

Beaugrand said she "never doubted" that the swim would go ahead despite warnings that it could be cancelled, which would have turned the race into a duathlon of cycling and running.

"It would have been a disgrace for our sport... it would have been a disaster," she told journalists after the home victory in front of thousands who enjoyed the competition on the historic streets of Paris, which remained slippery and dangerous after the night's rain.

Beaugrand was in the mix from the start, staying in touch with the leader and defending Olympic champion Flora Duffy during the swim, when many competitors reported being surprised by the strength of the river's current.

She told France 2 television that she had vomited before the start for the first time in her career. Her competitor, Great Britain's Georgia Taylor-Brown, silver medallist at Tokyo 2020, had helped to boost her morale.

"She said, 'It's just a race, you can do it,'" said Beaugrand, who grew up near Paris but moved to the UK in 2023 to train at Loughborough University, highlighting her rival's gesture as a moving example of the Olympic spirit at its best.

As for the race itself, many athletes encountered surprisingly strong currents after all training sessions were cancelled this week, with the Seine flowing at two or three times its usual speed for this time of year.

"It was much stronger than last year's test event," Australian Natalie Van Coevorden told journalists, joking that she had concentrated on not drowning while swimming against the current.

"My body feels good now. We'll see. I hope to be fine," said Italy's Verena Steinhauser after finishing 39th, adding that she would take antibiotics as a precaution.

The champion, elated after the feat of her life, said: "It was the longest 1500m of my life, but I never doubted myself at the end. I didn't know I was an Olympic champion, I was shouting, but I told myself it wasn't possible, I told myself someone had to wake me up!

"I didn't want to show any weakness. I knew Flora Duffy was going to attack because that's her strength, she just wanted to throw me off the bike if she could. I wanted to show that I was capable of being at the front on the bike, that I wasn't suffering more than that, I was just afraid of crashing, because it happened several times [to other riders] next to me," said Beaugrand.

"On the run, I didn't feel at my best, but I also felt that the girls were bluffing me because I knew that I was one of the best finishers of the four, and in my opinion they were already a bit tired because in the final sprint I could make the difference," concluded the athlete, who recently won gold in the individual event at the Hamburg World Championships in 2023.