Two crashes left this Idaho cyclist battered. She bounced back for Olympic gold medal

Chloé Dygert displayed the scars of a tough Olympics on Wednesday. But her place atop the podium made it all worth it.

Dygert led the U.S. women to a gold medal in the team pursuit in the 2024 Olympics, capturing her first career gold medal and her second medal in Paris, as the Americans edged New Zealand in the event’s championship match.

“I’m really, really happy for this medal, but I’m already looking for the next thing,” Dygert told a reporter with the U.S. Olympic website . “I’m going to cherish this, but it doesn’t stop here. We’re going to keep going. There’s a lot to accomplish in the future.”

The Indiana native, who trains in Boise with three-time Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong, is quickly closing in on a record medal total. Her two medals at the 2024 Olympics gave her four for her career, two shy of the all-time record for female cyclists.

Dygert, 27, started the Paris Olympics in dramatic fashion, winning bronze in the individual time trial after recovering from an early crash. She crashed again in the road race, leaving her with three stitches in her chin during Wednesday’s team pursuit race at the Olympic velodrome.

She previously led the U.S. to a silver medal in team pursuit in 2016 and a bronze medal in 2021. But the gold medal Wednesday marked the first for the Americans since the event was added for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

The U.S. edged New Zealand in the finals, completing the 4-kilometer race on a banked track in 4 minutes, 3.306 seconds — .064 seconds shy of a world record. Other members of the team were road race champion Kirsten Faulkner, Jennifer Valente and Lily Williams.

“There’s just a lot of support for this program, and we’ve been able to bring in really strong riders, and now we were finally able to pull it off,” Dygert told The Associated Press .

The scrapes and bruises Dygert suffered at the Olympics pale in comparison to what she’s overcome in her career. A 2020 crash hurled her down a ravine, leaving her with extensive blood loss and a career-threatening gash on her leg.

It took her nine months to ride again. She then had heart surgery and battled Epstein-Barr virus, which causes extreme fatigue. Then an Achilles injury, a bout with COVID and two March crashes limited her to three days of racing this year prior to the Olympics.

But she leaves Paris with two medals around her neck, including that elusive gold.

“I’m going to cherish this,” Dygert told AP before pausing. “It doesn’t stop here. We keep going.”

TACTICAL ERROR COSTS IDAHO NATIVE

Rexburg native Chari Hawkins’ medal chances came to a heartbreaking end Thursday.

The Madison High grad failed to clear her opening height in the high jump, receiving no points in the heptathlon event and putting her in a massive hole in a competition scored by cumulative points.

Hawkins, 33, skipped the lower heights in her Olympic debut, strategically waiting for the bar to reach 1.71 meters (5 feet, 7 inches) for her first attempt. Skipping the lower heights meant she didn’t have any score to fall back on if she didn’t clear it. She hit the bar on all three attempts at 1.71 meters and received zero points.

The high jump is one of Hawkins’ best heptathlon events. She opened the U.S. Olympic trials in June at 1.70 meters and cleared the next three heights to finish second in the event at 1.79 meters (5 feet, 10.5 inches).

A television broadcast showed Hawkins break down after hitting the bar a final time, her hands shaking as she covered her tears.

“Oh my gosh. I don’t even know what to do,” Hawkins told reporters after the event . “I’m like literally so shocked right now.”

Hawkins kicked off the heptathlon with a strong showing in the 100-meter hurdles, finishing fifth at 13.16 seconds. But her no score dropped her to 22nd place during Thursday’s midday break, ahead only of a German athlete injured in a warm-up before the 100 hurdles .

Hawkins returned to compete in the shot put Thursday. The heptathlon wraps up Friday in Paris.

IDAHO NATIVE GOES FOR GOLD IN SOCCER

Boise native Emily Sams will come home with an Olympic medal. The only question is what color.

Sams is a member of the U.S. women’s soccer team, which will face Brazil in the gold medal match at 9 a.m. Mountain time Saturday.

Sams was a late addition to the U.S. team, joining the squad as an alternate after an injury. The 25-year-old has yet to make her debut for the senior team. The U.S. placed her on the active roster for two games , including the Olympic quarterfinals , after an injury to defender Tierna Davidson.

Davidson has since returned to the lineup, pushing Sams back into an alternate role.

Sams grew up in the predecessor to the Boise Timbers Thorns soccer club and helped lead Centennial High to a state runner-up finish as a freshman. She then moved to Florida and was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft.