The Olympic Men’s Triathlon Had To Get Restarted Because Of A Boat Blocking The Start

There is a tremendous amount of planning required in putting on an Olympic event, as officials at the highest levels of each sport try to ensure that everything goes off without a hitch, as it is often the biggest stage some of the smaller sports will get to put their athletes on display.

Everything is meticulously planned, but sometimes you just can’t account for someone with a jumpy trigger finger as we learned at the start of the men’s triathlon competition. As the athletes all gathered at the starting platform for the swimming leg of the event, one of the boats that helps guide the athletes along and also houses camera crews was steadily trolling along in front of the platform, getting some long panning shots before the official start.

Unfortunately, the starter somehow didn’t see the giant boat that was blocking half the field from getting into the water and so when the flag went up to indicate all the athletes were in position, they smashed the start button leading to an incredible scene where half the field took off and the rest couldn’t go anywhere because of the big ol’ boat.

The boat trying to speed out of the way is an all-time “oh no” moment, and shouts to the guys at the far end who jumped in front of the boat thinking maybe they just had to beat an extra obstacle. They would eventually wrangle all of the guys who got in the water by driving boats in front to turn them around and restart, and from there the race would go on without another hitch, but it’s certainly an embarrassing moment for the folks driving the boat and the starter who jumped the gun, literally, on starting the race. The announcers were especially hilarious as they watched the replay, trying to figure out how the starter couldn’t see the boat that was right there. We’ll have to wait for the end of the race to see if any of the competitors blame the false start for a poor finish, but it was certainly an unusual sight on a stage as big as the Olympics.