Rio de Janeiro, August 11

Veteran cyclists Fabian Cancellara and Kristin Armstrong hammered home their Olympic superiority as Michael Phelps headed back to the pool in his bid to add to his remarkable 21 golds.

With rain and strong winds lashing Rio, 35-year-old Cancellara marked his impending retirement by reclaiming the men’s cycling time trial title he first captured in Beijing in 2008.

The four-time world champion Swiss was totally dominant yesterday as he beat Tom Dumoulin into second and Tour de France champion Chris Froome into third.

Cancellara finished the route in 1hr 12min 15.42sec, beating Dumoulin of the Netherlands by 47sec, with British star Froome, who also won bronze at the London Olympics in 2012, more than a minute behind.

Armstrong, who turns 43 on Thursday, produced a courageous display in similarly treacherous conditions to claim her third consecutive women’s time trial gold.

The grim weather — which forced the cancellation of the day’s rowing regatta and wreaked havoc in the tennis — proved no obstacle for Armstrong as she completed the challenging road course in 44min 26.42sec.

Her victory spared the blushes of organisers, relegating drug-tainted Russian cyclist Olga Zabelinskaya—who only returned from a doping ban last year—into silver.

“I don’t have words to describe it. When you’ve already been two times at the pinnacle of the sport, why risk coming back for the gold medal? The best answer I can give is that I can,” said Armstrong, who retired after each of her two previous Olympic successes, only to come back in search of more glory.

Armstrong’s win launched a busy fifth full day of action where 20 gold medals were to be decided.

Phelps back in pool

After winning his 20^th and 21^st gold medals in the pool on Tuesday, Phelps was back in action yesterday for the heats of the 200m individual medley.

A weary Phelps qualified for the semi-finals with the third-fastest time in the heats as he aims to claim a fourth consecutive gold medal in the multi-stroke event.

“It hurt a little bit, but with a good rest this afternoon think I’ll be fine,” he said.

“I’ve been able to put my body through things like this over the years and hopefully I can keep it going one last time.”

Another US swim phenomenon Katie Ledecky is back in action the day after she secured her second gold of the Games in the women’s 200m freestyle.

Ledecky is part of the USA’s 4x200m freestyle squad which also features Allison Schmitte and Missy Franklin who won gold in London. — AFP