Russia’s Olga Zabelinskaya, who returned from a doping ban past year, won a controversial silver medal in the women’s time trial watched by International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.
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“Working at a great hospital in Boise, Idaho, and being a mom has been my secret weapon”. She says that while age means that recovery can take much longer, her extra years of experience, her mental approach and technical equipment provide an advantage.
Cyclist Kristin Armstrong of the United States celebrates after crossing the finish line to win the women’s individual time trial event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Pontal beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 10.
Three Olympic Games. Three Gold Medals.
“I’ve had the hardest journey this Olympics that I’ve ever had”, she said.
After her first gold in Beijing, Armstrong actually retired from the sport to become a mother, but returned for the London Games to successfully defend her title.
On the other there was Olga Zabelinskaya, a Russian rider with a doping past who was almost booted out of the Games.
Ledecky is part of the USA’s 4x200m freestyle squad which also features Allison Schmitte and Missy Franklin who won gold in London. It was clear she was struggling. When Armstrong woke up at 4:30 a.m.to use the rest room, she went to the window and saw sheets of rain.
“I thought about Mara and I gave everything for her in the final five kilometres”. “Sometimes, I can overthink, I can read media and listen to it and get really stressed out about what somebody is or is not doing”. “We had streaming”, said Amy Stahl, a communications manager at St. Luke’s, where Armstrong works as the community health director. US time trials champion Carmen Small had called for an arbitration hearing after being left off the team. “It was two weeks like this, in the morning we go, in the evening we don’t”, she said.
Cancellara finished the route in 1hr 12min 15.42sec, beating Dumoulin of the Netherlands by 47sec, with British star Froome, who also won bronze at the London Olympics in 2012, more than a minute behind. “It’s important for me, and for Russian Federation”, she said. “It was an uphill battle to defend her selection”.
The London 2012 bronze medalist Olga Zabelinskaya of Russian Federation took the silver in 44:31.97, while the bronze went to Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands in 44:37.80. My coach said to me, ‘OK, you decide what color medal you want to have’.
Zabelinskaya was sixth then but by the second, at the top of the 2.1km Grota Funda climb and 10km from the finish, she was first, 2.88sec ahead of Armstrong with Longo Borghini third at 6.98sec. “This time I promised (husband) Joe (Savola) we’d do something fun”.
“I knew today I had to give it everything for my team and for Mara”.
All those notes didn’t calm Armstrong’s nerves, though.
Her task was complicated when she developed a nosebleed about 13 kilometers into the race, which had happened only two or three times that she could recall. The last 24 hours she has been leaving me notes.
After all, Armstrong wasn’t going to let a little rain stop her.
In terms of showcasing skills, there was no one on the course doing it quite like Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland.
“Personally, I am very happy with the medal again”, said the Kenyan-born Briton.
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“There are just no words”.
