KEY POINTS:
BEIJING - Rosara Joseph grinned as she crossed the finish line of the Olympic women's cross country mountainbike race today.
But her smile didn't say it all, the grazes and grubby sweat-drenched lycra really summed up her gritty performance at Laoshan.
Joseph finished ninth in a 26.7km looping
endurance test, inside her pre-race goal of a top 10 finish.
Although that may sound defeatist for the high achieving Rhodes scholar, the Commonwealth Games silver medallist probably reached expectations by making the 30-rider field at all considering she broke an ankle at the end of April.
The injury prevented her from intensive training during May and June, leaving the 26-year-old no option but to pare back her ambitions.
The race was won by Germany's Sabine Spitz in a time of one hour, 45.11 seconds with Poland's Maja Wloszczowska second, 41 seconds adrift.
Russia's Irina Kalentyeva won the bronze after finishing 1min 17secs behind Spitz.
Joseph, whose time was 1hr 51min 07sec, juggles professional mountainbiking commitments while studying international affairs at Oxford University.
She might have wondered if Beijing was a worthwhile learning experience a minute into the six-lap circuit.
Barely 60 seconds had elapsed before the first time Olympian was involved in a pile-up that immediately consigned her to backmarker status.
Joseph, who had to right herself after ploughing into China's Chengyuan Ren, plugged away in 33degC heat to improve from 23rd at the end of the first lap to 14th by the halfway mark.
By this point, Spitz had powered herself into an unbeatable position but Joseph was making steady progress until a steep, rocky segment proved her downfall - twice.
Joseph first experienced problems on the fourth lap when she provided one of the televised highlights - a dramatic 3-metre plunge from her bike that left her fortunate to avoid serious arm injuries.
"I actually screamed, I never scream `aah'," Joseph said.
"I dropped I guess from about two or three metres. It was pretty big, I must have fallen well.
"I was really winded, but I guess I was up relatively quickly."
Course officials witnessing the tumble doubted she could continue, prompting a slight delay as Joseph convinced them to hand back her bike.
Despite presenting the worse for wear at the finish, Joseph was delighted with her ride.
"I was way back off the pack from the very start, other than that, it was great. I was picking off riders as I went through," she said.
"I felt really good. Physically, I felt really strong and technically, most of the time I was really good - there was just the one section I had trouble with."
She had another spill of her least favourite section of the course on the final lap after improving from 12th to eighth - the delay allowing Georgia Gould of the United States to overhaul her.
Three of the pre-race favourites were among four riders who failed to complete the course.
Three of the pre-race favourites were among four riders who failed to complete the course.
Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa, Norway's Olympic champion in Athens, withdrew on the fourth lap, Canadian Marie-Helene Premont, who denied Joseph Commonwealth gold in Melbourne two years ago, pulled out with breathing difficulties after 1-1/2 laps and Spain's reigning world champion Margarita Fullana withdrew before halfway.
- NZPA