Mara Abbott's inspirational notes helped drive Kristin Armstrong
RIO DE JANEIRO — Kristin Armstrong captured gold in the cycling time trial event on Wednesday, and she credits her teammate Mara Abbott with some of the inspiration to get there.
Abbott’s way to pump Armstrong up? Some well-hidden notes.
Abbott was leading a different event, the cycling road race, earlier this week, but she tired late and just missed out on a chance at the podium when three competitors passed her in the last section of the race. The devastating loss could have sent Abbott into a shell, but Armstrong says Abbott took the loss and channeled the energy into support for her teammate.
“The last 24 hours, Mara’s been leaving me notes,” Armstrong said after taking gold. “I found one in my coffee cup yesterday, it said: — I went to brush my hair, I found another one on my brush. Last night I went to bed, and there was another one on my pillow. And this morning, on my podium bag, there was another one.”
Armstrong said that inspiration is what pushed her to close in the final stretch of the race and take gold from Russian cyclist Olga Zabelinskaya, who tested positive for octopamine, a banned stimulant, in 2014.
“About 5k to go, my coach said ‘All right, here we go. It’s up to you what color medal you want,’ ” Armstrong said. “I thought, I have to give it everything for my team. I have to give it everything for Mara.”
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