Lizzie Armitstead said she was looking forward to getting “back to the people who love and care about me” after the most torrid fortnight of her career ended with a disappointing fifth-place finish in the women’s Olympic road race.
Armitstead lined up at the start having been forced to field a barrage of criticism for missing three drug tests under the whereabouts rule in the past 10 months. Following legal intervention by the cyclist, one of her failures was overturned by the court of arbitration for sport, who cited an administrative error in the testing procedure. Without this judgment, Armitstead would have been banned from competing at Rio.
“Obviously I’ve lost quite a lot of sleep and it’s been a hard time, but it’s not an excuse,” said Armitstead, who finished 20 seconds behind the race winner, Anna van der Breggen.
“To be honest, I can’t feel sorry for myself. This is sport and that’s what it’s about; you open yourself up for judgment. I never gave up and for that I can be proud of myself.”
The world champion claimed the controversy that has dogged her in the buildup to these Games played no part in her failure to make the podium. “Once I’ve got a number on my back I’m a totally different person and I’m focused,” she said. “It didn’t enter my mind once in the race. I was totally focused on what I do best.”
Asked if she had encountered much animosity from her rivals in the peloton, Armitstead said many had in fact rallied around her. “I had a lot of people come up to me and say they were happy I was there,” she said. “We are a moving family throughout the season. I know a lot of the women very well and they know me. They were nothing but supportive.”
On the subject of the considerably less supportive views of many others who have been following her recent travails, Armitstead was circumspect. “I have to come to terms with it,” she said. “I can’t pick up the phone to everybody that doubts me and explain myself. The only thing that I can do – and the only thing that I’ve always done – is to ride my bike fast and get my head down and control the things I can control.”
Armitstead’s team-mate Emma Pooley, a fiercely outspoken critic of drug cheats, denied her fellow rider’s carelessness had caused tension between the pair. “It was foolish of her, and I’m sure she agrees, to get to the three strikes point but she was cleared of one of them and that’s Ukad have decided and what Cas have decided and those are the rules,” she said. “It’s not the same as taking drugs, missing three tests. She missed one because they failed to find her and that’s a valid excuse. So I think that’s perfectly reasonable.”
Far from being downbeat, Armitstead seemed in surprisingly chipper mood following her finish outside the medals and claimed it was no great surprise she didn’t do better. “It wasn’t entirely unexpected to be honest,” she said. “I knew I was going to need a miracle to come away with the gold medal on this course. I’m really happy with the tactic that I had and the effort that I did. I came up short on the climb. That’s what I’ve been working hard on, but that’s sport.”
She went on to predict good things for her British team-mates in the coming days of competition. “I think Team GB are going to have some extraordinary performances and I hope that the nation doesn’t lose faith and they get behind the team because its going to be a good two weeks of sport.”
