Great Britain’s Lizzie Armitstead Wins Silver, Claims Hosting Countries First Mdeal

Dutch cyclist Marriane Vos may have claimed the gold medal during Sunday’s sprint past Buckingham Palace but London’s focus was placed solely on the legs of cyclist Lizzie Armitstead whose silver medal became the first medal of Great Britain’s Olympic competition.

Team GB was waiting patiently for its first medal win and the course Armitstead was racing on was tailored perfectly for her sprinting style.

By the end of the race Lizzie Armistead was just seconds off Vos’ lead but failed to capitalizing coming down the stretch.

The American’s also had a chance at Olympic gold with Evelyn Stevens out in front for much of the race, however the foursome fell behind after Kristin Armstrong crashed on the rain-soaked course with only 50km left to go.

The sprint friendly race should have helped Armitstead’s male compatriot Mark Cavendish claim a medal on Saturday but he failed to capitalize on his strengths and ultimately failed to place on the podium.

Speaking of the support she received from British Fans Armitstead said:

“It is the most special thing I’ve ever experienced in my life. It’s so crazy and so inspiring. It was absolutely amazing. I didn’t even feel my legs, it was just so special.”

Final times for the podium were:

Marriane Vos 3:35:29, Lizzie Armitstead 3:35:29 and Olga Zabelinskaya 3:35:31.

Should British athletes fail to win a gold medal they would become the first country since Canada in the 1976 Montreal Games to complete the Olympic games without a gold medal on their home turf.