Rio Olympics: Lizzie Armitstead dreamt of the best summer of her life but fears even if she takes gold she can’t win now
LIZZIE ARMITSTEAD had really planned on this summer being the best of her life.
An Olympic gold medal — to go one better than the silver she won at London 2012 — followed by her wedding to boyfriend Philip Deignan, an Irish Team Sky rider, next month.
Instead when she lines up today for the women’s cycling road race at Fort Copacabana on the edge of the iconic beach, the eyes of the world will be on her for all the wrong reasons.
Win or lose the doubts and questions will still linger as to why she missed THREE drug tests.
The Brit herself already knows that whatever happens on the gruelling course, the result will prove secondary to the row that has embroiled her for five days.
The reigning world champion, 27, said: “In this situation I’m never going to win. If I win the race, people will say it’s because of something else, and if I lose, people will say it’s another reason.
“People are going to judge me, they’re going to judge my family. But I would never cheat, not in any walk of life.
“I’m not at the point of accepting it yet but I’ll have to come to a point of accepting that people will doubt me forever.
“People will think I’m a cheat for the rest of my life and that’s because of not ticking a box on a form.
“I don’t mean to make it sound trivial — it’s not — it’s a fight we all have to take responsibility for and as world champion I should take it higher than anyone else.”
The Yorkshire lass, now based in Monaco, was facing a four-year ban and the prospect of being suspended for the Olympics.
But the Court of Arbitration for Sport scrubbed out the first of those three failures when she appealed.
Track and field star Christine Ohuruogu was banned for a year for three similar whereabouts failures in 2006 — coming back to take the Olympic 400 metres title at Beijing in 2008 — and many believe Armitstead should have been given the same punishment.
British Cycling has rallied around her, even supporting the appeal, as it bids to meet tough medal targets out here,
But athletes in other sports, such as Olympic rower Zak Purchase, have not been so forgiving.
Purchase, who won Olympic gold at London 2012, said this week: “Imagine what we would be saying if she was Russian.”
Even Victoria Pendleton, the golden girl of cycling from London 2012, reckons Armitstead has questions to answer.
She said: “Lizzie WAS one of the strongest contenders for gold in the women’s race.
“Either way, people will be asking questions of her for the rest of her career. It is really sad but the truth is she has only herself to blame. You have to take responsibility for missed tests — that is part of being an elite athlete.”
Athletes have to tell drug testers where they are every day for an hour under the whereabouts system.
But Armitstead was cleared by CAS of a whereabouts failure on August 20 last year.
She then had two further strikes against her — on October 5, 2015 and June 9, 2016, the latter the result of Armitstead not updating testers owing to a family illness.
But questions remain as to why she waited almost A YEAR to appeal the first failure, clearly realising that her Olympic place was under threat when she notched up three strikes.
She was only cleared when CAS ruled the UK Anti-Doping officer had not followed proper procedures, or made reasonable attempts to find her at the Swedish hotel where she was staying. Despite the furore, team-mate Nikki Harris will be bidding to help Armitstead win gold today, despite having no chance of a medal herself.
The 29-year-old has been selected as a domestique — a racer who works for the benefit of someone else — alongside Armitstead and Emma Pooley.
Harris insisted: “I want to be able to finish my race hopefully with Lizzie winning the gold. That would be the cherry on top.
“The main role I’m going to do is a team job for Lizzie.
“My job will be in the first 90 to 100kms, helping Lizzie stay at the front, get over the cobbles, making Lizzie do the least amount of work possible, so she’s fresh for the final 20km.
“Hopefully we can save her some energy so she’s got fresh legs — or as fresh as they can be — at the end.”
Pooley, 33, was talked out of retirement to race in Rio.
She won silver in Beijing eight years ago and returned after a stint doing triathlons.
It will be her third Olympics and the hill-filled roads appear to be taylor-made for her.
She said: “I saw it as an amazing opportunity to race in a major competition — the Olympics are extremely special.
“But I’m trying to just see it as a racing opportunity over a course that potentially suits me.
“It is a big change to come back to cycling from triathlon but I’m just an athlete that likes doing races I’ve got a chance at!
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“I wouldn’t have chosen to try to come back if it was pan flat — even if they had wanted me to, which I don’t think they would have done!”
Armitstead and Co will tackle the loop along the coast from Fort Copacabana to the Grumari circuit today.
They include top climbers such as Anna van der Breggen, world No 1 Megan Guarnier and Marianne Vos, the sport’s greatest all-rounder and defending Olympic champion.
Armitstead has floated the idea of retirement at the end of this year.
This week’s stressful events may have hastened that prospect.