PARIS − Chloe Dygert finished third in the race, and it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that she was third to the medalist press conference, too.
The Team USA cyclist earned a bronze medal Saturday in the women’s road cycling individual time trial with a clocking of 41:10.70, held at the Paris Olympics’ Pont Alexandre III venue. And when it was time to take the microphone, she hobbled in with a pronounced limp behind gold medalist Grace Brown of Australia (39:38:24) and silver medalist Anna Henderson (41:09.83) of Britain, as well.
As she took her seat, Dygert grimaced; even sitting was painful. Just before the second time check, she crashed while executing a left turn; it had rained all day, and she slipped and fell on her left side on a cobblestone stretch of the 32.4-km course. She wasn’t alone, as there were plenty of spills on the wet course − her teammate Taylor Knibb crashed three times and finished 19th − but perhaps no rider in the field is more accustomed to pain than Dygert.
Four years ago, she endured a gruesome crash in Italy that severely lacerated her left leg, threatening her career and requiring multiple surgeries, resulting in nine months off the bike. But that doesn’t begin to summarize all that she’s overcome: an ACL tear to her knee, a torn hip labrum, injuries to her back and Achilles tendon, heart surgery, a bout with Epstein-Barr virus, and more recently, a bout with COVID during her Olympic training.
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Just competing in Paris would’ve marked a remarkable comeback, let alone medaling. She clearly wasn’t pleased about missing out on gold, but the 27-year-old wasn’t about to blame the crash after all she had to overcome just to reach the Games.
‘Everything has come with a mental challenge, but I’ve been blessed in that God has given me the ability to overcome a lot of different obstacles on and off the bike. Even today with the crash, a lot of girls had crashes, but with the crash I was able to get back on the bike and still fight for a podium spot,’ Dygert said. ‘It’s always hard to have to deal with an injury or a setback but it’s part of the game, part of the sport, and we’re all here to fight for that gold medal. It was just what the day brought.’
The day also brought plenty more of the rain that soaked the Paris Games opening ceremony on Friday. Dygert said she’s comfortable racing in rain, however, and embraced the conditions.
‘It just didn’t work out for me today, but I really do enjoy these conditions. I think if we were in Britain, these (conditions) would be absolutely perfect. The roads are better to take corners on, whereas when we’re in Spain, France or Italy, I feel it’s a little more icy,’ she said. ‘I think it definitely factors into the race itself and it totally changed the ballgame today. But for me, I enjoy these conditions.’
The medal marked Dygert’s third in Olympic competition, but her first in the individual time trial. She has also won a silver (2016, Rio de Janeiro) and a bronze (2021, Tokyo) in the women’s team pursuit. Dygert’s attention now turns to the women’s road race, which will be held Sunday, Aug. 4, on a much longer track of 130-160km, against a much deeper field of 90 riders.
Shortly after Dygert’s medal finish Team USA cyclist Brandon McNulty took fifth place in the men’s individual time trial, clocking in at 37:16:60, less than 40 seconds behind men’s bronze winner Wout van Aert of Belgium, and 1:04 behind gold medalist Remco Evenepoel (36:12:16), also of Belgium.
Reach Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X @chasegoodbread.