Europe held off Oceania and Americas to win the team triathlon gold Thursday at the Youth Olympics in Singapore, the first time a global multi-sport competition has used the mixed format. Teams made up of two boys and two girls from the same continent completed a mini-triathlon of a 250-meter swim, 7-kilometer bike ride and 1.7-kilometer run before tagging a teammate to start the next leg. The Europe 1 team of Alois Knabl of Austria, Hungary's Eszter Dudas, Miguel Valente Fernandes of Portugal and Israel's Fanny Beisaron finished the relay in 1 hour 19 minutes 51 seconds, just four seconds ahead of Oceania. Team Americas 1 fell to third despite a 14-second lead at the beginning of the final run after Argentina's Laurato Diaz was given a 15-second penalty for unfastening his helmet before racking his bike, which allowed runners from the Europe and Ocenania teams to pass him. Team triathlon is one of several formats the International Olympic Committee is debuting at the Youth Games along with half-court, 3-on-3 basketball and mixed swimming relays. IOC President Jacques Rogge, who watched the team triathlon competition, said organizers haven't decided yet whether the new format will be used at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. The inaugural Youth Olympic Games from Aug. 14-26 features 3,600 athletes aged 14 to 18 from 204 National Olympic Committees competing in 26 sports. China athletes racked up three more golds Thursday – winning two taekwondo finals and the girls freestyle relay – to extend their lead to 14 golds and 23 medals overall. Russia is second with 11 golds and 24 overall while South Korea, Azerbaijan and Italy each have five golds. In badminton action, Thailand swept the singles golds Thursday. Pisit Poodchalat took out Indonesia's Prannoy Haseena Sunil Kumar in the boys final while Sapsiree Taerattanachai denied China another gold when she defeated Yuan Deng in the girls final. Russia's Viktoria Komova finished ahead of Sixin Tan of China and Italy's Cariotta Ferlito to win the girls' individual all-around final in artistic gymnastics. The United States had only one gold medal by the end of the fifth day of competition Thursday along with three silvers and two bronze medals.
