Anna Henderson overcame the relentless rain in Paris to win Olympic silver in the women's individual time trial.
The rain wreaked havoc on the roads of the French captial all morning but the 25-year-old cyclist showed no fear as she won Team GB's first silver and second medal of the Games in a time of 41:09.83.
In fact, Henderson found the perfect balance of risk and caution to be one of the few riders not to hit the deck, catapulting herself over the line to beat the USA's Chloe Dygert to silver by just 0.87 seconds in what she had quietly believed could be possible.
"I can't believe it," she said. "I had a small feeling I could make the podium today and squeeze out some of the others rider but I can't believe I've come second behind someone like [gold medallist Grace Brown].
"I burst into tears when I found out I was second. I just can't stop smiling."
A silver medal in your first Olympics Games 🫢
— Team GB (@TeamGB) July 27, 2024
Anna Henderson can barely believe it! She put in a brilliant ride on a slippery course to secure silver by 0.87s.
Chapeau 🎓 https://t.co/mev60TQR8h pic.twitter.com/CDfMsf58cG
Henderson broke her collarbone back in February during the Setmana Ciclista and just months later, in Stage 2 of the La Vuelta Femenina, tragedy struck once more and left Henderson wondering if her Paris 2024 dreams would be possible.
But with the backing of two British time trial titles, a silver at last year’s European championships, and a narrow fourth place at the Glasgow world championships a little under 12 months ago, there was no doubt that Henderson was in contention for some silverware.
And with a dream power and caution combo to fight the weather, Henderson's Paris 2024 got off to a perfect start.
"The power didn't change but the caution through the corner, I thought that I could lose a whole Olympic Games here but I made up for that time in the straights," she said.
"It was about focusing on power in the straights and caution in the corner.
"On the radio, my coach kept saying 'caution' and 'control' and I saw a lot of girls have problems today so I'm really happy I could hold it up.
"You try to stay relaxed but you freeze up in those corners and I was just telling myself, 'don't pull the breaks, stay away from the white paint', it was about taking it step by step.
"That plan payed off and here I am, I can't believe it."
Henderson will now take her confidence into the women's road race on Sunday.
"I'm so excited for Pfieffer [Georgi], Lizzie [Deignan] and Anna [Morris] to arrive, we have a really strong team and I'm really looking forward to it."
Sportsbeat 2024