The win marks the 10th gold medal for the United States, and came just one day before Armstrong’s 43rd birthday.
Advertisement
RIO DE JANEIRO Veteran American Kristin Armstrong completed a remarkable return to cycling by winning a third consecutive gold medal in the time trial on a rainy morning at the Rio Games on Wednesday.
It was the final race in the Olympic career for Armstrong, who turns 43 on Thursday.
But her hopes of landing a medal were crushed fairly emphatically and she was well off the pace finishing 14th and more than two minutes off the victor.
Armstrong, who finished the event with what appeared to be a nosebleed, posted a time of 44:26.42 to see off Zabelinskaya by five-and-a-half seconds.
Bronze went to Anna van der Breggen of Holland but Team GB’s Emma Pooley was unable to recreate her Olympic magic from 2008.
Thankfully, despite the conditions, riders were able to stay on their bikes. The Dutch rider won the road race and time trial at Sydney in 2000 and the time trial in Athens four years later.
Advertisement
Two factors helped: No cobbles, and no climb up and over Vista Chinesa, the descent of which caused, in part, Annemiek van Vleuten’s startling crash as she appeared to be on her way to a gold medal. The weather conditions were perhaps the biggest obstacle for riders.
