Rio de Janeiro:Â Veteran American Kristin Armstrong completed a remarkable return to cycling by winning a third consecutive gold medal in the time trial on a rainy morning at the Rio Games on Wednesday.
A day before her 43rd birthday Armstrong, the last to tackle the 29.7km course, sped over the finish line 5.55 seconds faster than Russian Olga Zabelinskaya.
![Kristin Armstrong of the United States reacts after winning the Women's Individual Time Trial on Day 5 of the Rio 2016 ...](/web/20160818172853im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/p/p/u/u/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gqpptv.png/1470860369331.jpg)
Road race champion Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands was in third place.
Armstrong, who retired in 2009 to start a family but returned to win gold in London four years ago before retiring again, barely had the energy to celebrate after crossing the line -Â collapsing on to the soaking tarmac.
Eventually she climbed to her feet and hugged her son, holding a banner that said "USA STRONG".
She is the first person to win the same road cycling event at three Olympics.Â
![Kristin Armstrong reacts after winning the Women's Individual Time Trial a day before her 43rd birthday.](/web/20160818172853im_/http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/p/p/u/q/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gqpptv.png/1470860369331.jpg)
Reuters