The Dutch athlete back competing a MONTH after breaking her back in horrific crash

29/07/2021 4 min
The Dutch athlete back competing a MONTH after breaking her back in horrific crash

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Episode Synopsis

Five years ago in Rio, the Netherlands' Annemiek van Vleuten suffered one of the more horrific crashes you'll ever see in a bike race. All alone in first place with less than 12km remaining in the women's road race, Van Vleuten's tires locked up around a tight turn and she flipped over the handlebars, fracturing her back in three places. She was back to competitive racing within a month of the injury—how?—but these Games were the chance at redemption for the now-38-year-old. Van Vleuten thought she got that redemption in the women's road race earlier this week, celebrating at the end of the 137km race as though she had won gold. But Austria's Anna Kiesenhofer had pulled so far ahead of the pack that everyone forgot about her. She won gold by 75 seconds, and Van Vleuten had to settle for silver. She finally got her gold medal in the Day 5 women's road time trial.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.