‘It feels so great to come full circle’ - Jenny Rissveds on her Olympic mountain bike bronze medal

Bronze medallist Sweden's Jenny Rissveds celebrates on the podium after taking third place the women's cross-country mountain biking event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Elancourt Hill venue in Elancourt, on July 28, 2024. (Photo by Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP)
Bronze medallist Sweden's Jenny Rissveds celebrates on the podium after taking third place the women's cross-country mountain bike at Paris 2024 Olympic Games (Image credit: Getty Images)

Sweden’s Jenny Rissveds was all smiles as she accepted her bronze medal and hugged an emotional Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France) on the podium of the women’s cross-country mountain bike race at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Rissveds had come full circle after some difficult years following her gold medal ride at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Rissveds was just 22 years old when she claimed the Olympic gold medal. Not having the tools to handle the pressure, both internal and external that followed that historic victory, she struggled with depression and an eating disorder and within a year of winning the Olympic title, left the sport. She took a two-year hiatus to seek treatment and simply ride her bike for fun before returning in 2019.

Lyne Lamoureux

Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites. 

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