US cyclist Chloe Dygert pushes through years of traumatic injury to win bronze in Olympic time trial

US cyclist Chloe Dygert put years of traumatic injury behind her to claim her third Olympic medal today at the Paris Games after surviving a crash in the rainy conditions.

The 27-year-old from Colorado Springs, won the bronze in the women’s individual time trials on a rain-slickened course as cycling competition began in Paris.

Chloe, whose partner Alex is the son of cycling legend Eddie Merckx, was able to complete the course in 41:10.70, behind gold medalist Grace Brown of Australia, who posted a time of 39:38.24. Great Britain’s Anna Henderson took the silver with her time of 41:09.38.

The medal is the third in as many Olympic Games for Chloe, who won silver at the Rio 2016 Games and bronze in Tokyo, both in team pursuit.

Dygert has admitted that there ‘were moments ‘in the past few years that she thought about quitting after a devastating leg injury in 2020.

US cyclist Chloe Dygert claimed bronze in the time trial Saturday - her third Olympic medal 

Dygert completed the course in 41:10.70, behind gold medalist Grace Brown of Australia (C)

She said: ‘What I physically had to go through for the injury itself, then mentally what I had to go through - all the personal things I won’t go into - my life at times did not matter to me.

‘I didn’t care if I was alive. I did not care about things. People don’t see and understand, and I can say the same thing - I see people with injuries and things going on, and I can’t understand what they’re going through.’

On Saturday as she celebrated her bronze, she revealed she welcomed the rain that has brought chaos to the Paris Olympics.

She said: ‘I like this weather, I like this temperature, so I can't complain too much about anything.

‘The crowds were so loud, I actually had a lot of trouble hearing my radio. I did hear the first time check. I was five seconds down at that point. The first three minutes I knew my legs weren't fabulous, so I was a little worried.

‘I knew on the way back it was a little bit more downhill and I thought I could use that to my advantage, and then I had a little crash and I don't know how much it actually affected me.

She blamed herself for the crash adding: ‘It was me. I just didn’t set it up right, just slid out right into it, just my fault. I should have taken it a little bit better.

‘It was hard. I had a little bit of adrenaline in me, luckily, but I could definitely tell right away. I smacked my leg on my frame, so the spasms and things were kind of going on in the leg.

Dygert admitted she had thought about quitting after a devastating leg injury in 2020

‘I could tell that there were moments where I just lost a little bit of power. Again, that's no excuse to finishing third.”

On the ups and downs of the past four years, she said: ‘I'm really happy to be here. I'm really grateful to be here. It's been a long road to get back to the Olympics, so I'm just very thankful. This has just been a true blessing and (I’m) grateful for all the support and everybody to get me across that line.’

‘I'm not going to be a sore loser, but everybody shows up to win and everybody here who isn't on that top step is probably going to say the same thing.

‘We want to win. We don't want to lose, but you know, we're going to be appreciative and supportive to all the riders. It’s just how it is, the one rider is going to be better than the other on the day, that's just how it goes. I've just got to get better.’