It wasn’t the fairytale finish triathlon fans had dreamed of for the two-time Ironman 70.3 world champion and Olympic silver medalist (mixed relay in Tokyo) Taylor Knibb at today’s time trial. The American proved her cycling prowess in May when she won the American National Time Trial Championship. She earned herself a spot on the American team in two sports – triathlon and cycling. Knibb had a tough introduction to Olympic cycling. She would crash three times in the slick conditions, and also have to switch out her bike. Things were going so badly for the American star that even her mechanic slipped as he was running the bike to her.
Knibb remained in good spirits after the race, joking to Cycling Weekly that she was “probably the worst bike handler” in the race and describing the day as “an experience.”
“The first third was great,” she said in an interview. “The middle on, that’s where it all went wrong. And then the third one it was more survival than anything else. I was fully blind, my Garmin fell off on the first one. I’m like, ‘Well, here we go!’”
The first crash came at the 14 km point of the race. After which she went into a motorbike on the course. After the first crash her brakes weren’t working – she told Cycling Weekly that led to her fishtailing going into each turn.
The huge rainfall during the days event led to a number of crashes. Ironically, the rain might force a delay in the triathlon (the water quality levels tend to drop after high rainfall), which might be good for Knibb, who is one of the favourites for the triathlon race. The delay might provide a bit more time for the cuts on her knees to heal before the race.
Despite the crashes, Knibb finished 19th in the race (43:03), which was won by Australia’s Grace Brown (39:38). Great Britain’s Anna Henderson took the silver medal (41:09), with American Chloe Dygert taking bronze (41:10).
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