Jenny Rissveds takes gold in women's mountain bike competition
Swedish rider finishes 37 seconds in front of second place finisher Maja Wloszczowska of Poland in Saturday's contest
Jenny Rissveds powered her way to a gold medal in the women's cycling mountain bike competition, crossing the line 37 seconds ahead of second place. (Photo: Getty Images/Bryn Lennon)
Jenny Rissveds found another gear going up the first long hill of the last lap of the women's mountain bike race. By the time she started her descent, the Swedish cyclist had finally pulled away from Maja Wloszczowska of Poland. Rissveds was never seriously challenged again on way to winning to the Olympic gold medal Saturday.
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She finished the six-plus lap race in 1 hour, 30 minutes, 15 seconds, beating Wloszczowska by 37 seconds. For Wloszczowska, it was second career Olympic silver in the event, following Beijing in 2008. Catharine Pendrel held off Canadian team-mate Emily Batty for the bronze in Rio de Janeiro.
"I cannot believe it. I do not know what to say. I just came here a week ago. I crashed in training, and ended up with six stitches in my knee and four in my elbow and I thought this is not going to work at all."
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Rissveds already had an impressive few months, winning a World Cup race and the under-23 world championship in back-to-back weeks in July. Crossing the finish line with a smile, Rissveds circled around and got a hug from a fan near a railing.
"This is for sure the biggest achievement in my career. It is just unbelievable," Rissveds said. "At one moment, I thought if I stay cool, in worse case, I can finish second, but I thought, I have to go for the gold. And I got the gold medal."
Much of the race was held in 90-degree temperatures under overcast skies. Riders gave mainly good reviews for the course before the race, though a few worried about the heat since there were relatively few trees providing shade.
It didn't seem to bother Rissveds on the last lap. Until then, Rissveds and Wloszczowska duelled for much of the second half of the race, breaking away from the pack. Jolanda Neff of Sweden, ranked third in the world, stuck close to the pair early before falling back. She finished in sixth.
Reigning world champion Annika Langvad was 11th and American Lea Davison had a strong finish and came in seventh, three minutes behind Rissveds.
