RedwoodAge.com
Kristin Armstrong's gold medal in the time trial makes her the first American woman cyclist to become an Olympic champion in 24 years. But that's not the impressive part.
Armstrong, 33, held off her Olympic rivals after beating another foe: osteoarthritis. Like millions of Americans, the cyclist had problems with the often-crippling disease, but overcame them through intense therapy.
Armstrong finished the 14.6-mile course in 34 minutes, 51.72 seconds - 24.29 seconds better than Emma Pooley of Great Britain. Switzerland's Karin Thuerig was third, almost a minute behind the time set by Armstrong.
Armstrong was the only woman close to Pooley at the halfway mark, and erased the gap before reaching the finish at the Great Wall.
She joins Connie Carpenter-Phinney as the only American women to win Olympic cycling gold; Carpenter won the road race at Los Angeles in 1984.
“Awesome,” Armstrong mumbled through her tears as she wrapped her arms around husband Joe Savola at the finish line. “It’s so awesome.”
She could barely contain her glee as she stepped atop the medal podium, thrust her arms in the air and then bowed to have Olympic gold draped around her neck.
For Armstrong said she was still fighting disbelief as she heard the
“I couldn’t really believe it,” she marveled.
Levi Leipheimer was awarded the bronze medal for finishing third in Wednesday’s men’s cycling time trial.
"The time trial, you can control a lot more,” said Leipheimer, who was spent after his 29.2-mile sprint. “You’re out there by yourself against the clock and the strongest rider usually wins. I think the Americans, we have a culture of time trialing. We do a lot of these races in America and we have a history of being strong time trialists.”
Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara won gold and Sweden’s Gustav Larsson took silver for the men.
Leipheimer’s medal was a great personal and team moment in a frustrating summer.
Smarting from being left out of the Tour de France this year — his Astana team was banned for past doping-related issues, none of which involved Leipheimer — the American spent his summer training at altitude in the United States, prepping for Beijing.
“I did my best with the situation I had,” Leipheimer said. “Not being in the Tour de France really motivated me to prepare as hard as I could. It made me very motivated for the Olympics. And I’ve got to say, it’s fantastic to get a medal for the United States.”
The AP contributed to this story
