Jennifer Valente turned the primary U.S. monitor rider to win an Olympic gold medal since 2000 on the Omnium occasion Sunday.
The 27-year-old survived a late crash within the multi-format race to punch into the document books and suitably reward years of preparation and the strain of taking part in anchor level to the ladies’s U.S. monitor group competing in Tokyo.
“Olympic gold … the sound of it, I can’t recover from it,” Valente mentioned on the end.
“I believe there have been 100 totally different feelings operating by way of me and the largest factor is that none of them had set in but. I don’t know if they’ve nonetheless set in, or understanding what it means to be an Olympic champion. It’s been actually emotional and it’s been a protracted 5 years, and I’m so proud of this outcome.”
Valente’s standout Omnium victory over Yumi Kajihara (Japan) and Kirsten Wild (Netherlands) earned the USA its solely biking gold medal of the Tokyo Video games.
Right here’s a have a look at the dramatic day of racing.
