Date | 21 July 1996 — 11:00 | |
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Status | Olympic | |
Location | Buckhead Cycling Course, Atlanta, Georgia | |
Participants | 58 from 30 countries | |
Format | 104.40 km. (64.87 miles) mass start race. |
As always the favorite was France’s Jeannie Longo. By 1996 she had won 10 world championships, five on the roads, and had even won a silver medal in mountain biking at the 1993 World Championships. However, at 37, the French cycling federation considered her too old and stopped funding her, but they selected her for the Games anyway. On the eighth lap of the race, Longo got away with Italy’s Imelda Chiappa and Clara Hughes (CAN) and Anna Wilson (AUS). In the pouring rain, Wilson was dropped quickly, but the other three stayed away. Early on the final lap, Longo powered away from Chiappa and Hughes and rode to her much deserved gold medal. Hughes returned to the Olympics in 2000 in cycling and in 2002 and 2006, competed at the Winter Olympics in speed skating. Winning medals in both years on the ice, she is one of the few athletes (five thru 2006) to have won medals at both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. The defending champion, Kathy Watt, also competed but missed the winning break and finished ninth.