Cyclist Grace Brown won Australia’s first gold medal at the Paris Olympics after dominating the women’s individual time trial in horrid conditions on Saturday evening AEST.
The 32-year-old completed the 32.4km ride in 39:38.24 with an average speed of 49km/h, finishing more than 91 seconds ahead of Britain’s Anna Henderson in second place.
Brown, who placed fourth in Tokyo three years ago, battled the wet streets of Paris to claim Australia’s first Olympic gold medal in road cycling since Sara Carrigan in 2004.
“Coming fourth in Tokyo showed me the roadmap, then second at the worlds, this is one better,” Brown said.
“I’ve been second a lot, but this was the good one to win I think.”
Brown, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion, recovered from an early wobble off the starting line to cross the 13.1km checkpoint almost 21 seconds ahead of the next fastest rider. The Victorian continued to extend her lead as the race progressed, crossing the finish line on the Pont Alexandre III Bridge with her parents cheering on from the stands.
Brown was joined on the podium by Henderson and America’s Chloe Dygert, who suffered a nasty fall during the event but recovered to secure bronze.
“Just to make Australia proud, winning the first gold medal for our nation,” Brown continued.
“Setting the medal table on its way. I hope I inspire the other athletes to push their limits and go after similar results.”
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The damp conditions in the French capital took its toll on the cyclists, with several competitors struggling to tame the soaking wet track.
“Because it was wet, we had to go a bit slower through the corners, and that helped me take some little breaks along the way,” Brown explained.
“I didn’t really know that a lot of my competitors were crashing, so it sounds like I was lucky to stay upright in the end.
“Sometimes that is just bad luck, or luck to me this time. So I’m glad that was the case for me, and I’m sorry for my competitors.
“At one corner the spectators were telling me to really slow down. So I had a feeling that maybe some people had (crashed), but I didn’t know that there were so many.”
Two-time world title winner Dygert thudded into a barricade as she transitioned from bitumen to cobblestones on a corner near the 22km mark. The 27-year-old, who finished 0.87s behind Henderson, lost approximately five seconds from the crash.
Czech teenager Julia Kopecky, who finished 28th with a time of 44:53.75, admitted the course was frightening.
“I fell and it hurt, I can tell you,” Kopecky told AFP.
Elsewhere, America’s Taylor Knibb endured a horror afternoon in the individual time trial, crashing on four occasions with her mechanic also falling while running out a replacement bike. The 26-year-old still managed to finish 19th with a time of 43:03.46.
Later in the men’s individual time trial, Australia’s Luke Plapp was forced out of the race after crashing hard into the barriers. The Melburnian was a medal chance before the incident having recorded the fourth-fastest time at 13.1km checkpoint.
Belgium’s Remco Evenpeo ultimately won gold, with Italy’s Filippo Ganna and compatriot Wout vas Aert joining him on the podium.
Source Agencies
