Leading through the first 1000 meters of the women’s cycling team pursuit gold medal match, the U.S. women’s dreams of an Olympic gold medal did not come to fruition because of a historic effort put forth by Great Britain.
In winning the team pursuit final Great Britain established a new world record with a time of 4:10.236, and the Brits have won gold in this event both times that it’s been held at the Olympics (2012 being the first). Among the quartet was Laura Trott, who became the first British woman to win three Olympic gold medals in any sport. The American four, consisting of Kelly Catlin, Chloe Dygert, Sarah Hammer and Jennifer Valentine, posted a time of 4:12.454.
At 19 years, seven month and 12 days old, Dygert is the youngest American woman to win an Olympic medal in cycling.
Canada took bronze, meaning that the top three in Rio are the same exact three that made the medal stand in London. And one of their racers, Georgia Simmerling, has now competed in three different Olympics in three different sports. Prior to Rio both of those appearances came in the Winter Olympics, as Simmerling competed in alpine skiing in Vancouver in 2010 and in freestyle skiing in Sochi two years ago.
Medals were also awarded in the women’s keirin, with Elis Ligtlee of the Netherlands grabbing an early lead she would not relinquish to take the gold. Rebecca James of Great Britain took silver, with Australia’s Anna Meares taking bronze
