By Kristin Armstrong won her third consecutive Olympic time trial, her golden effort left her in an exhausted heap on the road at the finish line.
Armstrong covered the course through driving wind and rain in 44 minutes, 26.42 seconds, beating reigning bronze medalist Olga Zabelinskaya of Russia by just 5.55 seconds.
Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands added a bronze medal to her gold from the road race. Dutch rider Ellen van Dijk slid off the course, likely costing her a medal. She finished fourth.
The win marks the 10th gold medal for USA, and came just one day before her 43rd birthday. Armstrong, who was the last of the 25 cyclists to race on this morning, collapsed to the ground in tears after crossing the finish line after learning she had earned another gold medal for her country.
An elated Armstrong said after the race: “I don’t have words to describe it. When you’ve already been two times at the pinnacle of the sport, why risk coming back for the gold medal? The best answer I can give is that I can. Today the stars aligned.
“I knew it was going to be a close race. My coach said to me, ‘OK, you decide what colour medal you want to have.’ I dug so deep. To hear the national anthem on the podium, that’s my favourite part of the Olympics,” she said.
