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Lisa Tertsch ’21 won Germany’s first gold in the mixed relay triathlon event on Monday with her team of three other German athletes in a nail biting race that was decided by one second.

Tertsch’s victory marks the first time a current or former Harvard student from Germany has won a medal at the Olympics and only the second time a Harvard student has won gold for a country other than the U.S.

The event — which was first introduced at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — features two male athletes and two female athletes for each country. Each athlete competes in reduced stints of the elements making up a triathlon — swimming, cycling, and running — before tagging their teammate to complete the next leg.

After extended controversy regarding the water quality in the Seine that led to a delay in the men’s individual triathlon, Olympic organizers decided on Sunday afternoon that the mixed relay would proceed as scheduled with the swimming leg taking place in the iconic Paris landmark.

However, Belgium withdrew its contingent after an athlete who swam in the Seine fell ill.

Tertsch tackled the second leg of the race after being tagged by teammate Tim Hellwig — just three seconds down from leader Great Britain.

After a strong swimming leg from that kept her close to Great Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown, Tertsch was caught in a pack in the biking portion and lost position as Taylor-Brown pulled away.

Tertsch started her run in seventh place and 14 seconds down from Taylor-Brown, but surged to the lead by the end of the leg — setting her team up well for the last two stints.

Ultimately, it was anchor Laura Lindemann who delivered Germany the victory as she pulled away from the American and British runners in the final stretch of the race. The U.S. was awarded silver and Great Britain bronze following a photo finish.

The gold medal for Germany served as redemption for Tertsch and Lindemann, who both suffered crashes in the bike leg of the individual triathlon last week and finished far out of medal contention.

While the Paris Olympics are Tertsch’s first, she’s been competing as a triathlete for many years. Her first mixed relay accolade — earning a silver in the junior event the European Triathlon Championships in 2015 before matriculating to Harvard.

At Harvard, Tertsch ran on the track and field team, competing in numerous events including the 800 meter, the 5,000 meter, and shot put, among others.

The former Pforzheimer resident pursued triathlon full time after graduating, winning bronze in the World Triathlon Championship Series in 2022 and gold at the World Triathlon Mixed Relay Championships just three weeks before competing in the event at the Olympics.

—Staff writer Rahem D. Hamid contributed reporting.

—Staff writer Jo B. Lemann can be reached at jo.lemann@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @Jo_Lemann.