Puncture shattered Shelley Olds chances for the Olympics Gold
Shelley Olds of Team America was looking good to secure an Olympics Gold medal during the 140 Kilometre Women’s Road race after her terrific start to the event.
The cyclist was cheered by the American crowd as she came close of securing an important victory for her nation.
Unfortunately, all the excitement was swept away as a puncture ruined her podium chances.
The cyclist shared the disappointment with Cyclingnews after crossing the finish line, "I'm really emotional right now,” said a tearful Olds.
“I was there. I knew that was the time, I knew Vos was going to go and I was on her wheel and I was there, then I flatted and that was it. My race was over”.
"I tried to stay focused to see if maybe [the break] would come back, but I was pretty sure that was the winning move”.
“So it's devastating to know that you were there in the Olympic Games, but that's bike racing," she concluded.
The 31-year-old finished almost 27 seconds behind the race leader, Marianne Vos and occupied the seventh position.
Vos bagged her first Olympics Gold Medal after crossing the finish line in a quickest time of 3 hours, 35 minutes and 29 seconds.
Elizabeth Armitstead of Team Great Britain secured the Silver Medal while the Russian cyclist Olga Zabelinskaya achieved the Bronze.
Ina Teutenberg (Germany), Giorgia Bronzini (Italy) and Emma Johansson (Sweden) claimed the fourth, the fifth and the sixth spots respectively.
The support cars came for Shelley’s help but they were not quick enough to save her from the disastrous incident.
Marianne Vos and the leading bunch were moving at a very fast pace and it was impossible for Olds to regain the top spot after wasting such crucial time.
The American was shaping up for this one race since the past four years and one thing she never planned was a flat tire which has now ruined all the Olympics ambitions for her.
She will now have to wait for four more years to fulfil her dream of the Olympics Gold but whether or not Shelley will be chosen in the American squad for the 2016 Olympics is not certain at this point of time.
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