Taylor Knibb 'still a little shocked' by US ITT title but ready to make Olympic history

In her second appearance at the USA Cycling Pro Road Championships, Taylor Knibb racked up quite a collection of awards for setting the fastest time in the elite women’s individual time trial (ITT) – the stars and stripes jersey, a medal gold and a hat with “MADE IT” sewn under the bill. This special embroidery signified her qualification to represent Team USA in the women’s time trial at the Paris Olympics in July.

“I’ll be perfectly honest, I’m just in shock,” was Knibb’s reaction shortly after the last rider among the elite women, Lauren Stephens (Cynisca Cycling), crossed the finish line and stopped the clock well over a minute and a half shy of his time of 41:54. Knibb was the only rider to spend less than 42 minutes on the flat 33.6 km round-trip course, and in doing so she won her first national road cycling championship.

Having graduated from Cornell University and now living in Colorado, she is no stranger to winning. She won multiple triathlon world titles as a junior and has won back-to-back Ironman 70.3 World Championships over the past two years. Last August, she finished fifth in the triathlon test event at the Paris Olympics and qualified for her second Olympic appearance. She can now be one of the few athletes competing for Olympic glory in separate sports.

Before Wednesday, USA Cycling had one of two remaining spots to fill in the time trial at the Paris Olympics. Chloe Dygert, last year’s US Pro ITT winner and absent from this year’s championships, earned first place with automatic selection thanks to her victory at last year’s ITT Road World Championships. After the celebrations in downtown Charleston, Knibb said he received a congratulatory message from Dygert.

The time trial duo make an interesting pair, as they have both qualified to compete in several events in Paris – Dygert in road cycling and track cycling, while Knibb can attempt the double in road cycling and in triathlon. NBCSports.com noted that the only other American triathlete to compete in multiple sports in the Olympics was Sheila Taormina, who was also the first woman to qualify for the Olympics in three different sports. Taormina won a gold medal in swimming in 1996, as part of the 4×200 meter freestyle relay team, then finished sixth in the triathlon in 2000, then competed in the modern pentathlon in 2008.

The Paris elite women’s time trial, 33 km, will take place on Saturday July 27. Four days later the women’s individual triathlon event will take place, covering 1.5 km swimming, 40 km cycling and 10 km running. Knibb said two of the three women competing in the individual event will be selected by USA Triathlon the day before the mixed relay, which will take place Aug. 5. At the Tokyo Olympics, Knibb finished 16th in the women’s individual triathlon and helped Team USA win the silver medal in the mixed relay.