Dutch Cyclist Mistakenly Celebrates Winning Gold After Missing Rival’s Breakaway

A Dutch cyclist whose Olympic hopes ended in a horrific crash at the 2016 Rio Games stretched out her arms in celebration as she led the peloton across the line in the road race in Tokyo. But Annemiek Van Vleuten’s joy was short-lived: She soon learned an Austrian rival, Anna Kiesenhofer, had actually finished more than a minute earlier after breaking away from the pack. She mistakenly thought Kiesenhofer had been reeled in. Van Vleuten’s tumble in Rio had left her in hospital with concussion and three spinal fractures. In Tokyo, at age 38, she thought she’d made amends—failing to notice Kiesenhofer catching her breath at the side of the course. Her rivals made the same mistake. “The best person won the bike race here today. Annemiek was clearly the strongest,” British rider Lizzie Deignan told the BBC.