At 5.5 seconds slower than Armstrong, Russia’s Olga Zabelinskaya (BePink) received silver, and at 11 seconds behind, Olympic road race victor Anna van der Breggen (Rabo-Liv, The Netherlands) won bronze.
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“That’s a great question from a 5-year-old, ” Armstrong said.
“I have to give it everything for my team”, thought Armstrong, who knows that time trial winners are determined by “what’s between the ears”.
Two-time defending Olympic champion Kirstin Armstrong (Twenty16-RideBiker, USA) and Anna van der Breggen (Rabo-Liv, The Netherlands) lined up as favourites and Van der Breggen could write history by winning another Olympic gold medal after her win in Sunday’s road race.
“It was very hard. And the last thing I want him to ever think is that he has to match what I’ve done”. The support she has given me since her race is phenomenal.
“The first time I became an Olympian, it didn’t sink in for a while”, Armstrong said. I had to win everything. Controversy ensued. Carmen Small, the 2016 national time trial champion, believed that she deserved the right to compete in Rio.
Four years ago in London she won bronze medals in both the time-trial and road race. But she called this victory “the most gratifying”. However, she was drawn back to cycling again in 2015 on her way to qualifying for Rio.
As for her job, Armstrong works at St. Luke’s hospital in Boise, where she’s the director of community health. 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.
She told NPR after winning the race: “I think that for so long we’ve been told that we should be finished at a certain age”. Today the stars aligned.
Armstrong used all her vast experience to tackle two tough climbs and stayed calm as the seconds ticked away on the run-in.
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.
Armstrong is a hero to many in Idaho, so it can be hard for us to view her objectively.
Zabelinskaya was also a controversial figure coming into the race.
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. When they told her that she did, she collapsed to the ground.
“It’s everyone’s own choice when they want to retire”, said Cancellara. “It was two weeks like this”, she said.
“I’m disappointed with the result”, said Pooley.
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Zabelinskaya, who finished third in the road race and time trial in London, was in tears at the end. “I’d never bet against her”.
