Jolanda Neff took an early lead on a very slippery, seemingly dangerous Izu Circuit on Tuesday afternoon in Japan, and the Swiss native never looked back.
The 28-year-old entered Tokyo's mountain biking event as a heavy underdog, despite claiming a world championship in 2017; now, she'll leave with a gold medal, Switzerland's first of the 2020 Olympic Games.
The inclement weather yielded far from ideal conditions for a mountain biking competition, and while many of the favorites fell victim to the terrain, Neff held her ground.
Perhaps practice makes perfect in Switzerland, one of the most mountainous countries in Europe, as Neff was joined on the podium by two other Swiss bikers: Sina Frei, who finished a mere one minute and ten seconds behind her teammate, earning her a silver medal, and Linda Indergand, who won bronze.
Neff, Frei and Indergand completed the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games' first clean podium sweep, after Switzerland took home all three medals in the event.
