RIO DE JANEIRO — U.S. Olympic Cycling Team member Megan Guarnier, a 2007 Middlebury College graduate, placed 11th in the women’s road race competition at the Rio Olympics this past Sunday.
The Glens Falls, N.Y., native went into the Games as one of the top-ranked riders in the world, but the course with its brutal climbs kept her out of the medal race. She had told the Glens Falls (N.Y.) Post Star that it was one of the hardest courses she had seen in her 10-year career.
She finished the 85-mile race in 3 hours, 52 minutes and 41 seconds, in a near dead heat with a rider from the Netherlands and one from South Africa.
Fellow U.S. team member Mara Abbott gave the Americans some hope for a medal as she surged to the lead late in the race, but she was passed by a trio of competitors in the last 300 meters and claimed fourth place. The third U.S. team member, Evelyn Stevens, was two seconds behind Guarnier and posted 12th place.
Two other Middlebury graduates are scheduled to compete in Olympic competitions on Aug. 20. 2005 graduate Lea Davison of Jericho will race for Team USA in mountain biking Sarah Groff True ’04 will compete in the triathlon.