What began as a nightmare season for Anna Henderson has turned into the most memorable of her career, as she won herself an Olympic silver medal on Saturday.
The Brit came back from two broken collarbones earlier this year to earn her place on the podium in the time trial in Paris. For Henderson, the feat was the fruit of months of "blood, sweat and tears" shed in a race back to fitness following her latest crash in April.
"I was pretty much back on my bike like three days after the surgery," she said, "just the second one [collarbone break] mentally hurt a lot. It really took a lot to get back and get the motivation again. I always had Paris on my mind, and that really carried me through."
In February, on her first race day of 2024, Henderson came down in a crash and broke her left collarbone. She spent two months sidelined, before returning to racing at Amstel Gold. She then repeated her injury a fortnight later at the Vuelta Femenina.
The second crash, she feared, could have put an end to her Olympic dream. "It did cross my mind," she said. "It was a really low point in my season but I've really bounced back quickly. I won at the Nationals and had a really good ride at the Tour of Britain.
"I had a really good run into this with an altitude camp and everything. I'm really happy with my form today, and really happy with my ride."
At the finish line on Paris's Pont Alexandre III, riders crossed the line soaked by the rain, some with cuts on their knees from crashing.
"I didn't realise how slippery it was out there until I was on the course," Henderson said. "I thought, 'I can lose a whole Olympic Games in one corner here.'"
Instead, the 25-year-old rode with great composure, staying upright on each of the 27 corners of the 32.4km course. "I really took control and my coach did a really good job to keep me calm all the way through and keep pushing until the end. Last year, I was two seconds from bronze at the Worlds, so I'm really happy to be on the right side of the seconds this time."
Henderson's family, boyfriend and former cycling manager sat dressed in plastic ponchos in the tribune on the finishing straight, cheering for her in the pouring rain. It was to them, those who felt her ups and downs with her this season, that Henderson was eager to dedicate her performance.
"I'm really thankful of everybody around me that got me here and everyone that go me through today," she said. "I know I had to just turn the pedals, but there's a whole, huge group of people that got me here and I'm really proud to be here."
