Greig Leach

I think Kristen Faulkner (USA) might have been so surprised that her gamble for victory was so successful that she may not have believed that she had actually won the Gold Medal by fifty-eight seconds that she didn't even give a victory salute. Once she had caught the two leaders, Marianne Vos (Netherlands) and Blanka Vas (Hungary) towing Lotte Kopecky (Belgium) along she knew that she had to try to go on her own. She got the surprise jump on some of the best women in cycling. Instead of immediately jumping on the American's wheel, they each looked at the other wondering who was going to make the effort. While they dithered, the gold medal rode up the avenue. Faulkner returned the Gold Medal to the United States last won in the first Olympic Women's Road Race in 1984. Chapeau!