It was obvious today’s circumstances would be much different from those in the road race. “She uses that as more motivation”.
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Idaho cyclist Kristin Armstrong racked up another gold medal the morning of August 10, taking the top prize in the Women’s Time Trials competition at the Rio Olympics.
The last rider to go out on a route heavy on climbs, Armstrong made history by becoming the first athlete to win three gold medals in the same road cycling event.
Armstrong laid on the wet road with what appeared to be a nosebleed after crossing the finish line with a time of 44:26.42. “It’s up to you what color of medal you want.’ And I was like, ‘Well, it’s up to me?'” “I thought it was just water”, she said, then tried to swipe it away only to see her hands were bloody. “But I knew how to get it done on one day”.
Armstrong said: “I don’t have words to describe it”. Anna van der Breggen of The Netherlands took the bronze, 11.38 seconds back.
British cyclist Chris Froome, who is coming off his third Tour de France victory in four years, goes last as the men’s individual time trial takes place Wednesday.
Win an unprecedented third straight gold medal in the women’s time trial. “So when I came back I was focused on Rio and it’s been hard because I’ve had some poor performances over the last six months”. “You won!” That, Armstrong said, was a great question from a 5-year-old. But he did ask me, ‘Momma, why are you crying?
“That’s what we do, we cry when we’re happy, ” she replied.
Armstrong’s Road to Rio was as tough a journey as the course she raced today. Armstrong temporarily retired from cycling after winning gold in Beijing in 2008 so that she and her husband could start a family.
But she also has a life at home in Boise, Idaho, that beckons her. And she focused on raising Lucas.
After receiving the medal she proudly showed it off to her boy. To win a gold medal in your retirement year, I am super proud.
At one stage Zabelinskaya, the bronze medallist at the London Olympics, raised her arms and smiled broadly as the fastest three riders waited in their finish line hot seats.
One of them had beaten Armstrong in the national championships, putting her place on the team in doubt until only a week before she left for Brazil. Last month, an arbitration hearing called by USA time trials champion Carmen Small debated whether Armstrong was unfairly selected.
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Then on Wednesday morning, Armstrong faced another hurdle: the weather. “That really hit me hard”, she said. That was enough to set her on the path back to the Olympics, though she continued to work full-time until she cut back to 16 hours a week in February.
