"My goal was to be on the podium and my dream was to win the race" - Grace Brown on second place at Worlds time-trial

Grace Brown entered the time-trial event in the women's Elite category at the World Championships as an outsider, but has put on a strong performance that almost earned her a gold medal.

“My goal was to be on the podium and my dream was to win the race. I achieved my goal and I can still aim towards that dream," Brown said after the race. Up until today she had only raced two individual time-trials this year, winning both at the Australian national championships and the Commonwealth Games. However she wasn't prepared for the rollercoaster she'd find in Wollongong.

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It was a rollercoaster of emotions up there [hot seat]. Annemiek was the really top time-triallist to hit the course. She obviously didn’t have her best day out there, and there was quite a difference between my time and her at a lot of checkpoints. That started that feeling of hope that I was maybe on an absolute flyer," Brown described. She rode to third and second place at the two intermediate points - at the end of the day, giving real chances of a medal, and even of a possible victory as she rode before the likes of Van Dijk and Reusser.

Brown rode a very strong time however and was in the hot seat until the very last rider crossed the line. “But the last two riders Marlen Reusser and Ellen van Dijk started and came through the first checkpoint ahead of me, and from there it was a nervous journey on the hot seat," she said. “I was feeling really proud of my ride, but it was agonising and I thought there was still a chance that maybe I could win the race overall, but van Dijk had a phenomenal day.

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In the end she stepped on the podium for a silver medal, a slight disappointment after coming so close to the win, but with a sense of pride for the same reason.

“It gives me a lot of confidence that in the years to come I can really be one of the top names in time-trialling. I probably don’t get as many opportunities to do this event as some of the other girls, but it’s always been a specialty of mine. Now I’m really making my mark, which is cool," she concluded.

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💥 Grace Brown est vice Championne du Monde de contre-la-montre ! 🥈 #Wollongong2022

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