"I am now focused on the [cross country] world championships in Austria, where I want to finish♛ in the top three, and then perhaps at the marathon world championships in France - perhaps I will podium there?"
Kalentieva ไis a former cross country world champion. At the Olympic Games on Saturday, she raced for Russia in front of 20,000 spectators.
She just missed out on a m✃edal, spending much of the race on her own in fourth place. She crossed the line in 1:32:33, just 33 secꦗonds behind bronze medallist Georgia Gould of the USA.
"Naturally I am not disappointed with fourth," said the 34-year-old. It was clear to me that I could have got a medal, but all the same, I am happy 🍒enough because I felt good during the race, and I rode well."
Kalentieva never gave up hope on winning a medal; after all anything could have happened to the first three ladies, especially with such small gaps between the top♓ racers. "But fourth is also damn good!" she said.
"I had prepa🐽red well for the race. I did everything that I planned to do. It all worked. My start was good and the bike functioned perfectly. I felt that I was better positioned on the bike, and had more power on the climbs."
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