PARIS, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Grace Brown of Australia won the first cycling gold medal of the Paris Olympic Games on Saturday when she won the women's time-trial by an impressive margin of a minute and 31 seconds, to help crown her career.
The Australian, who has said she will retire from cycling at the end of the season, produced a dominant ride in treacherous conditions in Paris to finish one minute and 31 seconds ahead of Britain's Anna Henderson in second.
Henderson finished in 41 minutes, 9 seconds, just a second ahead of Chloe Dygert, although the American would probably have claimed the silver medal if she hadn't been among the host of riders who hit the tarmac on the 32.4-kilometer course.
The course began at Invalides and ended on the Alexander III Bridge, taking in some of Paris' iconic sights. It would have been a perfect tourist ride, but for the constant rain, which had been falling since Friday night, turning parts of the course - especially on corners, crossings and on the cobbled sectors into a skid pan.
Dygert slid out hard as she looked to turn on the cobbles, but she was far from alone, with her U.S. teammate Taylor Knibb, hitting the floor three times and needing a bike change after a puncture in the first half of her race, when it looked as if she were going to set an impressive time.
Knibb's mechanic then slipped and fell on the glass-like road as she rushed to make the exchange, highlighting just how hard conditions were.
"I tried to enjoy the Olympic sport, but today it was really painful," said Denmark's Cecilie Ludwig, another faller, on the day, although Brown remained unphased as she led the field at every one of the intermediate checks.
"I had a plan to pace the race to win gold, and I was able to execute my plan, pretty much to perfection, if not better. Can't ask for a better day. It's raining, but really, it's not dampening my spirits," she said.
