American women win silver in team pursuit
RIO DE JANEIRO — Sarah Hammer had hoped for more. After the United States had taken gold in London for years ago, the veteran cyclist set her sights on gold in Rio.
That the Americans fell short in the women’s team pursuit at the Rio Olympic Velodrome on Saturday, though, was far from a disappointment.
The Brits edged out the United States in the gold-medal final here on a day when each team had set the world record. The podium was the same as it was in London, with Canada grabbing bronze.
“I’m still so proud of the team and what we accomplished,” Hammer said. “We wanted gold, but we went out there and rode our bikes. I feel like we’re kind of the little team that could go against the big old machine of Great Britain.”
In the final race, Britain set another world record with a time of 4 minutes, 10.236 seconds. The U.S. team was 2.218 seconds behind, but its time of 4:12.454 was its second best ever.
Both teams re-set the world records in their qualifying heats earlier Saturday, with the Americans’ mark lasting moments before the Brits raced to make the gold-medal final.
“We are underdogs. I feel like that’s what we’re motivated on,” said Hammer. “We came close. We tried to push them, but they were the better team, for sure.”
Although the medal position didn’t change for the Americans, they were encouraged by other changes in this quad.
Felt created a new bicycle the U.S. team hoped would help it to gold. They moved the drivetrain to the left, which is unlike virtually any other bike, and took the aerodynamics of the velodrome into account in its design.
“It was one of those things where we knew we showed up and we weren’t put under,” said Hammer. “They came up with something that was going to put us in the best situation to try to get gold.”
The team’s youth likely helped there too, and set the Americans up for future success. Hammer is the oldest at 32, but none of the other team members — Jennifer Valente, Chloe Dygert and Kelly Catlin — is older than 23. Dygert is just 19.
While Hammer said she’s not going for another four years, the Americans return riders who helped the world record here and at the world championship it won in March.
“It shows that we can go out there and we can improve, they can improve and we’re trying to better our sport by doing that,” said Valente. “In the next four years, it’s gonna happen over and over again.”
Hammer, now a three-time silver medalist, certainly hopes that’s possible. And she hopes other countries can be motivated by a program that receives comparatively little funding.
“It shows that it’s possible for us. We got close” said Hammer. “It shows that little teams can come out and try to play.”

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