Rio 2016: Kristin Armstrong kills off premature celebrations with surge to time trial gold

On her 43rd birthday, the American provided a moment of cartoon justice

Armstrong, the birthday girl, cleansed the game of an unwanted strain (Getty)

How ironic that an American cyclist called Armstrong (no relation) should ride to the rescue in Rio by pipping a convicted drug cheat, and Russian at that, to Olympic women’s time trial gold.

There was a kind of cartoon justice, too, in the manner of Kristin Armstrong’s victory, her third on the spin in the Olympic time trial event, since Olga Zabelinskaya was celebrating gold seemingly disregarding the American foe still on the course.

Armstrong, who turns 43 today, blew past to cut the tape five seconds quicker and cleanse the games of unwanted stain.

Zabelinskaya, a double bronze medalist in London, tested positive for the banned substance octopamine in July 2014. The Russian Cycling Federation cleared her of any wrongdoing in December last year, leading to an appeal by cycling’s governing body UCI at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Following an episode of horse trading Zabelinskaya accepted a retrospective 18-month ‘ban’ in return for the UCI dropping the appeal. Since she had not competed following the positive test the ‘ban’ was considered served, which freed her to compete in Rio after the IOC opted against a blanket ban on Russian athletes.


 Zabelinskaya believed she had won gold until Armstrong's surge 
 (Getty)

Some will consider silver to good for her. Holland’s Anna van der Breggen added bronze to her road race gold, while Britain’s Emma Pooley struggled in the wet and blustery conditions, coming home a disappointing 14th, two minutes adrift of Armstrong.

“I'm disappointed with the result, not just a bit disappointed. I think I prepared as well as I could, rode as hard as I could. You can't know what would've happened, if I'd ridden differently on Sunday (road race), maybe, and saved a bit more.

“We had a chance in the road race as well, so I had to try to help Lizzie (Armitstead) there. That's the way it is at the Olympics, the road race comes first. We knew there was a chance of rain. From my point of view, my physiology, it's a bit tougher when there's a strong, blustery wind. It makes it a bit harder to control the bike.”