Grace Brown took the ladies’s time trial gold medal for Australia in treacherous circumstances as the primary biking medals have been awarded on the 2024 Olympic Video games.
Nice Britain’s Anna Henderson claimed the silver medal 1:31 behind Brown and only a second forward of the USA’s Chloe Dygert who received the bronze medal.
Riders struggled to maintain upright via the puddles, cobbles and potholes of Paris. A number of rivals together with Lotte Kopecky, Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Taylor Knibb got here down because the rain poured all through the race.
Brown led via the primary time examine narrowly forward of Dygert, however her lead was prolonged when the American crashed on the cobbles approaching the second intermediate level. Brown stayed protected all through and powered on to assert the primary biking gold medal of the 2024 Olympic Video games.
Brown, who races for FDJ-SUEZ within the Girls’s WorldTour, is about to retire on the finish of this season.
Henderson was delighted with silver, admitting that she had carried out past her expectations main into the day.
“I can’t imagine it. I had a small feeling I would have the ability to attain the rostrum at the moment, squeeze out among the different riders, however I can’t imagine I’ve come second behind somebody like Grace. It’s unbelievable,” Henderson instructed Eurosport after the outcome was confirmed.
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“I burst into tears once I discovered I used to be second. I can’t cease smiling, I’m over the moon.”
“I simply targeted on energy within the straights and warning within the corners … I believed I may lose an entire Olympic Video games there. I noticed numerous ladies have issues at the moment, so actually comfortable I may maintain it upright.”
(Picture credit score: Getty Photographs)
The way it Occurred
The rowing was one in every of a number of sports activities to kick off the primary official day of competitors on the 2024 Olympic Video games and people competing within the girls’s time-trial could have been higher served utilizing boats reasonably than bikes.
Circumstances out on the roads of Paris have been treacherous following the heavy rains through the earlier night’s opening ceremony which continued into the morning and all through the race. It was an open race heading in with no overwhelming favorite, however quite a few crashes out on the course made issues much more unpredictable
Slovenian Urška Pintar acquired the race underway, gingerly making her means spherical the primary nook. American triathlete Taylor Knibb seemed like she would set the primary vital benchmark time earlier than crashing thrice and struggling a mechanical.
It was Yulduz Hashimi, the primary lady ever to characterize Afghanistan in biking on the Olympic Video games, who set a formidable time early on, the primary underneath 45 minutes. She was crushed quickly after by Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig. Each had been down earlier within the course.
The primary rider to get a clear run at issues was Poland’s Marta Lach, who was greater than a minute faster than Uttrup Ludwig, setting the primary time which seemed prefer it could possibly be aggressive come the tip of the day.
Rider after rider came to visit the road displaying the impacts of crashes because the rain marred the day. Having set the quickest intermediate time, Lotte Kopecky was one other who got here down because the favourites emerged. She appeared unharmed forward of tilts at medals within the street race and on the monitor later within the Video games.
Kiwi Kim Cadzow set a blistering time to take a transparent lead with twenty riders nonetheless to complete and the rain continued to fall. Moments later fellow antipodean Grace Brown took a commanding lead on the intermediate time examine. American Chloe Dygert, the final rider on the course, handed the identical level simply 5 seconds down on the Australian. It seemed like a straight shoot out between Brown and Dygert for gold.
Brown was flying and, crucially, staying upright. She prolonged her lead on the second time examine, solely Dygert may problem. However the American crashed closely on the Paris cobbles, shedding 46 seconds on Brown consequently. The Australian simply wanted to remain on her bike and preserve her tempo to assert gold.
Brown powered on, taking a dream gold medal in what’s her last season as an expert. Dygert slowed additional, feeling the consequences of the crash and falling behind Nice Britain and Norther Eire’s Henderson by only one second to assert bronze.
Outcomes: Paris > Paris 32.4km
1. Grace Brown, Australia, 39:38
2. Anna Henderson, Nice Britain & NI, +1:31s
3. Chloe Dygert, USA, +1:32s
4. Juliette Labous, France, +1:41s
5. Demi Vollering, Netherlands, +1:51s
6. Lotte Kopecky, Belgium, +1:56s
7. Kim Cadzow, New Zealand, +2:08s
8. Elisa Longo Borghini, Italy, +2:11s
9. Audrey Cordon-Ragot, France, +2:13s
10. Christina Schweinberger, Austria, +2:14s
