Allen takes last-gasp triathlon gold

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Kate Allen of Austria came through in the final meters of the Olympic triathlon race Wednesday to take the gold medal.

Allen overtook long-standing leader Loretta Harrop of Australia at the very end of the race to finish with a time of 2 hours, 4 minutes, 43.45 seconds.

Allen -- born in Australia but married to an Austrian and based in Europe -- was lying 40th after the swimming event, and 28th after the cycling, but shot past half the field on the 10-kilometer run.

"She was flying," Harrop said. "I never even saw her when she came past me."

Allen trailed Harrop by 2 minutes, 48 seconds going into the running leg, but caught one runner after another. When she finally passed Harrop and crossed the finish line, Allen threw her arms up and put her hands on her head in disbelief.

"I was hoping to run into a top 10," Allen said after winning by 6.72 seconds. "It wasn't until the last 200 meters that I actually saw it was possible."

"This was the best feeling of my career," Allen said. "I concentrated on one race in my whole career and this was it."

Susan Williams of the United States won the bronze despite crashing early in the cycling race.

"It's an incredible feeling," Williams said. "I wasn't supposed to be on the team, and to come away with a medal is just wonderful."