Kiwi cyclist Nicole Murray overcame leaving her specialist specialist prosthetic arm at her accommodation to roar to a bronze medal at Vélodrome de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines overnight.
Murray, 31, became New Zealand's third medallist at these Games, when taking third in the women's C5 3000m individual pursuit, threatening to catch Italian rival Claudia Cretti in the ride-off.
Her 3m 36.206s was substantially faster than her personal best entering the event and a second quicker than she managed in qualifying, where she was hampered by an oversight that forced her to race without her specialist prosthetic arm.
But the Kiwi cyclist is kicking herself for a lost opportunity. (Source: TVNZ)
Murray has had her left hand amputated below the wrist, but took the track with a makeshift fitting, after leaving her racing prosthetic behind at athlete accommodation.
"I'm a little disappointed in myself," she told TVNZ. "I really messed up... it got here to the track just as I was racing.
"I'm pretty upset about that and it's something I'm never going to do again. It made my start a bit slower than it should have been, but I did the best I've ever done and still managed to get into the bronze-medal final.
"I'm pretty happy with that."
Murray's qualifying performance left her about two seconds outside the gold-medal race, but her time for bronze was actually faster than French world champion Heidi Gaugain managed for her silver medal.
"I'm such an idiot, I can't believe I did that," she said. "I got the prosthetic for the final race and it definitely helped out a lot.
"Both of them were personal bests, but I backed up quite solidly, and rode much more consistently and smoothly in the final."
The drama continued after the racing, when French winner Marie Patouillet was overcome by her effort, the heat and the occasion, requiring assistance from her rivals to accept gold.
"They had their race after mine, and there was a pretty quick turnaround from race time to podium," said Murray. "Even for an able-bodied athlete, getting up and walking into this kind of heat is a pretty big ask sometimes.
"When you add people's disabilities to that and sometimes it can be a bit more impactful. I'm sure that's not how she wanted her moment on the podium, but I'm glad I was able to be a shoulder for her."
Murray enjoyed her own personal celebration, when she took her medal to her family in the crowd.
"I haven't looked at my phone yet, so I'll probably cry all the way home on the bus," she admitted.
While track is her forte, Murray still has the road race and individual time trial to prepare for later in the week.
"The course will be interesting," she said. "I'm really looking forward to riding that course.
"It's got some interesting terrain, it's got some climbs and technical corners, so I'm excited for it."
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