Had things worked out differently, Anna Henderson might have been skiing at the Winter Olympics in Milan in two years’ time. The 25-year-old from Hemel Hempstead, who became Team GB’s first silver medallist of these Games when she finished a surprise second in the women’s time trial, was a junior national champion in the slalom.
The skills Henderson picked up on the slopes would have come in handy as she weaved her way through Paris’s sodden streets yesterday. It was a brutal test of nerve, an exercise in risk and reward. And Henderson passed with flying colours, pipping the United States’ pre-race favourite Chloe Dygert by less than a second in the final reckoning. The pair of them finished 90 seconds down on gold medal winner Grace Brown of Australia.
But silver was more than anyone – including Henderson – had been expecting. She had never won a medal of any colour at world level, finishing fourth at the World Championships in Glasgow last year. And she had broken her collarbone in February and then shattered it again at her third race back in April.
“I can’t believe it,” she said after drying her eyes. “I had a small feeling I could make the podium and squeeze out some of the other riders, but I can’t believe I’ve come second behind someone like Grace.”
Henderson profited by staying upright as riders went down like skittles all around her on the slippery, wet 32km course, which began at Les Invalides, near the Eiffel Tower, then took the riders east out to Chateau de Vincennes, before looping back via the Bastille. What should have been a postcard tour of Parisian sights became a battleground.
Dygert, who has herself had a miserable few years – battling back from a near career-ending injury to her leg and who had raced just three times this year – fell just before the second intermediate check and rode the rest of the race with “spasms” in her right leg. It was still spasming when she spoke to the media later. Fellow American Taylor Knibb, one of the early starters, went down three times. Even the US bike mechanic decked it at one point trying to give Knibb her spare bike.
Henderson, though, got the balance just right between attack and defence. Fourth from last down the ramp, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider was third quickest at the first checkpoint and then virtually neck-and-neck with Dygert at the second following the American’s crash.
After crossing the line, Henderson faced an anxious wait to see whether Dygert would beat her time and admitted she could scarcely believe it when the American crossed 0.9sec slower.
“I burst into tears when I found out I was second. I just can’t stop smiling,” she said. “It was a bit confusing because the TV was really far behind and then I couldn’t see the board here.
“I knew I had a medal, which was an amazing thing in itself, then it was whether it was silver or bronze.
“Last year, I was two seconds from the bronze at the Worlds, so I’m really happy to be on the right side of the seconds this time. So I’m really proud.”
It was an incredible result, and Henderson’s joy contrasted sharply with the disappointment suffered by her GB team-mate Josh Tarling an hour or so later. If you had said at the start of the day that one of them would take silver and the other would finish just off the podium, there is no doubt which way around you would have had them.
Henderson, though, is clearly made of stern stuff, as evidenced by her decision to give up on her childhood dream and pursue a different one. “When I was really young, I think [the Winter Olympics] was the original childhood dream,” she admitted earlier this week. “Slowly I realised I wasn’t that good. I was at a good level as a junior by British standards but not compared to the other countries that have snow.” She has proved to be pretty good at cycling compared to other countries that have bikes.
“Ah, I don’t know,” she said modestly, thanking her mum and dad, Janet and John, and her boyfriend Olly Moores, all of whom were there to witness her moment. “I’ve had my ups and downs with crashes, and just worked really hard. I was pretty much on my bike three days after the [collarbone] surgery. The second one mentally hurt a lot. It took a lot to get back the motivation again but I always had Paris on my mind and that really carried me through.”
And with that she was off to celebrate with some “French patisserie”. How would she top this, she was asked. Henderson grinned. “Four years’ time. LA.”
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