Swiss cyclists sweeps women's mountain bike medals at Tokyo Olympics

Jolanda Neff of Switzerland celebrates after the Tokyo 2020 cycling mountain bike women's cross-country race in Shizuoka, Japan, July 27, 2021. (Xinhua/He Changshan)

TOKYO, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Leading by Jolanda Neff, the Swiss trio have made a clean sweep of the podium in the women's mountain bike race at the Tokyo Olympic Games here on Tuesday.

Neff pulled out the front on the very first lap of the five-lap 20.55 kilometers race at the Izu Mountain Bike Course, clocking a winning time of one hour 15 minutes and 46 seconds for the gold.

Neff was happy after winning her first Olympic gold.

"It was my goal for today to enjoy it and have fun out there. I found a good rhythm, I could ride all the technical sections perfectly well and I could find a good rhythm in the uphill. It was such a good race and an incredible result for the whole team," she said.

Her compatriots Sina Frei and Linda Indergrand took the silver and bronze medal respectively. The Swiss trio hugged at the finish line, stunned by the magnitude of their accomplishment.

"It was super cool, Linda and I could work together, and we could push each other and I'm super happy. Three Swiss on the podium, it couldn't be better, we're so happy, " Frei said.

With Mathias Flueckiger's silver in the men's race the previous day, Switzerland took four of a possible six medals in the mountain bike race.

Chinese cyclist Yao Bianwa, an Asian champion who made her Olympic debut, placed 34th.

A total of 38 cyclists competed in the race. Laura Stigger of Austria crashed out of the course.