The two-time Tour de France champion fattened his crowded trophy cabinet by finishing third in the 33-mile Olympic time trial Saturday (Friday night EDT), but it wasn't the goal he set for himself at the Olympics.
Viacheslav Ekimov of Russia, who races with Armstrong on the U.S. Postal Service trade team, won the gold medal with a time of 57 minutes, 40 seconds over the 33-mile course.
Jan Ullrich of Germany, who won the road race Wednesday, took the silver, seven seconds behind Ekimov. Armstrong, wearing a teardrop-shaped helmet to reduce wind resistance, was 33 seconds behind Ekimov.
Armstrong targeted the time trial as his event for Sydney, a decision that took on greater importance when he broke a neck vertebra after colliding with a car while training in rural France one month ago.
After he finished 13th in the road race, Armstrong's last option was the time trial. The Australian fans knew it too, and they gave the American a big cheer to send him onto the race course.
Armstrong and Ekimov are close friends. Last month, they warmed up for Sydney by teaming up to win the Grand Prix Eddy Merckx time trial. That was two days before Armstrong was injured in the car collision.
The American seemed to take his cues Saturday from Ekimov, coming within one second of the fast splits established by the Russian.
But Ullrich was there for each stroke of the pedals, and he moved into second place five seconds behind Ekimov's time with one lap remaining. That dropped Armstrong to third, eight seconds behind Ekimov.
At the final interval check with about six miles left, Armstrong was in second, seven seconds behind Ekimov. Just over a minute later, Ullrich crossed the checkpoint for a five-second lead over Ekimov.
But Ullrich couldn't maintain the pace and he slipped to the silver, ensuring the bronze for Armstrong. Ekimov watched from the pits, smiling and accepting handshakes as his victory became apparent.
While Armstrong won't get the gold he wanted, at least he has a medal. After the road race, he was 0-for-4 in Olympic events dating back to the 1992 Barcelona Games.
In Atlanta, Armstrong was suffering from testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain by the time it was detected two months later. He went through chemotherapy and surgery before resuming his racing career in 1998.
Tyler Hamilton, another Postal Service team member who rode for the Americans, finished 10th in 59:26.
Ekimov won the Olympic pursuit gold medal for the Soviet Union in 1988 at Seoul and was one of the first from his nation to turn pro in 1991.
Olympic Cycling
