Following Annemiek van Vleuten’s shocking tumble on the last turn at Fort Copacabana, Mara Abbott had the gold in her grasp, but was hit smack in the face with a painful dose of reality. In the last seconds of the game, Abbott’s chances of placing were ripped from her sweaty grasp as Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands), Emma Johansson (Sweden), and Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) all passed her in a heartbreaking finish.
Mara Abbot about to be past and lose the chance of a lifetime.
All Olympians have the goal of getting gold and few achieve their dream, but even fewer get close and don’t make it. Even fewer get close and don’t medal at all! Mara Abbott was a massive letdown that defies all scales of measurement. Though we are all proud of her effort in Rio, a nice shiny gold medal would have been nice, MARA!
In a race that was almost impossible to escalate, Abbott managed to do the impossible. It was a tough race, but Abbott was able to be her own powerhouse until the very end. Even though she couldn’t get a medal, her heart is the only gold our country needed.