Viewers watching Kristin Armstrong win gold in the time trial cycling finals on Wednesday morning may have had a question: Is her nose bleeding?
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Here in Idaho, co-workers, cycling friends and fans of all ages went insane with excitement as Armstrong joined speedskater Bonnie Blair as the only American women to win gold three times in the same event.
“We’ve been told we should be finished at a certain age, but there are a lot of athletes out there who are showing that’s not true”, said Armstrong, who overcame a nose bleed at the 12-kilometer mark.
“The support that Mara’s turned around since her race Sunday has been phenomenal, ” Armstrong said.
Whether she won gold or not, her friends in the local cycling community were going to cheer her. “We had streaming”, said Amy Stahl, a communications manager at St. Luke’s, where Armstrong works as the community health director.
“My coach said to me, “okay, you decide what colour medal you want to have”.
“It was ultimately that tenacity and that remarkable spirit that came through for her gold and that’s what she deserved”, said Theresa McLeod, Armstrong’s colleague and friend.
She warmly congratulated her American rival though and the greeting was returned despite some riders openly questioning why Zabelinskaya was racing, given the IOC’s pre-Games stance. As if that time itself wasn’t fantastic enough, it absolutely dwarfed his competition as the Swiss cyclist won the gold medal by nearly a minute.
The Russian tested positive for the substance octopamine in July 2014 and accepted an 18-month ban, and that doping violation was poised to keep her from the Rio Games when the International Olympic Committee set in place rules that barred Russian athletes for previous doping offenses.
Armstrong had been quickest over the opening 10km and then produced a searing late burst on the Grumari circuit to clock in 44 minutes 26.42 seconds the day before her 43rd birthday. In the evening, they said we won’t.
“The amount of training and dedication it takes to do what she did is just incredible and she loves Boise and Boise loves her”, said Sela. “I had my ticket to go back to Russian Federation”. I’m very grateful for them.
“This is why I came back”, the USA cyclist Kristin Armstrong said early Wednesday afternoon.
“We don’t train really hard to wake up to pouring rain on a time trial bike, let alone on a technical course like this”, she said.
But those notes drove her on, especially as they were written by US team mate Mara Abbott, whose failure to win a medal in Sunday’s road race when she was caught 200 meters from the line having led for the last 10km was sport at its most cruel.
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Castledine said that after working with Armstrong for six years, he has garnered a tremendous amount of respect for the cyclist – and the person. But if you’re not familiar with her, it could be because she doesn’t have glitzy endorsement deals that make her a household name.
