Elisa Balsamo will certainly not carry in her heart theTokyo Olympics. Bad luck and two falls denied the Piedmontese the chance to express her enormous potential, who had convinced the Italian coach Dino Salvoldi to trust her not only for Madison with Letizia Paternoster, But also for today's omnium, in which the Cuneo team could enter to fight for medals.
Scratch and stop
However, the dreams were shattered three laps from the end of the scratch, the first of four efforts foreseen by the new Olympic omnium format which, until Rio, included six spread over two days. A crazy flight, which made us hold our breath also for the moment in which Egyptian Ebtissam Ahmed Zayed practically ran over her with her bicycleDouble physical and psychological blow: the warrior Elisa held firm, but It was difficult to ask her to do the feat after what happened and the fourteenth place finish was the consequence., while the three most coveted steps of the Izu velodrome were taken by the American Jennifer Valente (gold), the Japanese Yumi Kajihara (silver) and the Dutch Kirsten Wild (bronze).
The fall was triggered by the Polish Pikulik, here the most painful moment After hitting it, Egyptian Ebtissam Ahmed Zayed also flies With a torn back, Elisa returns to the pits: bad luck has struck... Balsamo is helped to stop and sits down, her first thought is to give up
The fall was triggered by the Polish Pikulik, here the most painful moment After hitting it, Egyptian Ebtissam Ahmed Zayed also flies With a torn back, Elisa returns to the pits: bad luck has struck... Balsamo is helped to stop and sits down, her first thought is to give up
«I couldn't withdraw because we are at the Olympics and I tried to get back on the track – said Elisa, still dazed, just after the race – the fall was not wanted, neither physically nor mentallyThe thought of someone riding their bike over your stomach gives you the shivers, but luckily they didn't hit me with the pedals. I was unlucky."
Double fall
Not a successful track expedition for Dino Salvoldi's girls. After sixth place in the team pursuit, in fact, two falls effectively took us out of the fight for medals.
Up until the moment of the fall, Salvoldi also confirms that he was doing very well Elisa returned to the race, but with doubts as to whether she would be able to continue.
Up until the moment of the fall, Salvoldi also confirms that he was doing very well Elisa returned to the race, but with doubts as to whether she would be able to continue.
«Unfortunately the incidents penalised us – commented the Italian coach – the regret was not being able to demonstrate what we are worth due to these episodes that can happenWhen she fell, Elisa was in very good shape. It was a bad fall and after he had pain in his abdomen and back, we evaluated whether to continue or not And, at each race, we started without knowing if she would complete it. The fall in the Madison hadn't left any physical after-effects, but it probably affected her a bit mentally. However, she started to do the omnium as best she could and was unlucky. After the quartets, we reassessed everything, and in our opinion... she was the best-equipped of ours and had great aptitude for this test, unfortunately that's how it went."
“Longo” Guarantee
For the women's sector like this, the only splendid joy is the bronze on the road of the "usual" Elisa Longo Borghini, a guarantee of medals at major events.
Salvoldi's balance sheet: «When you win an Olympic medal, the balance is always positive because everyone is for that goal.Elisa was superb in winning this bronze, and then there are the good times the quartet put in in all the events they competed. There is the regret, as I was saying, of bad luck and of not having been able to run the other two races at their best due to the incidents we know about."
