( CNN ) -- Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli would be remembered as the greatest female cyclist of her generation even if she had never been an Olympic champion . Longo-Ciprelli : Fourth time lucky in Atlanta in 1996 . For much of her career , the Olympic gold was the one honor to elude the French rider . Misfortune , it seemed , was to be her fate every four years , regardless of how many world championships she won in between . In 1984 the first women 's Olympic road race coincided with Longo-Ciprelli 's rise to dominance in the sport . Well-placed going into the final lap , she appeared set to challenge in the sprint , only to be knocked off in a collision . By 1988 , Longo-Ciprelli was a three-time road race world champion , as well as a double winner of the women 's Tour de France , and the clear favorite for gold in Seoul . But a broken hip a month before the Games derailed her preparations . Although she recovered enough to ride the road race , she could manage just 21st place . Tactical error More disappointment followed in Barcelona in 1992 as Longo-Ciprelli paid the price for a tactical error . With three kilometers to go , she raced away from the peloton and crossed the line in celebration . But she had failed to realize that Kathy Watt , an unheralded Australian , had slipped away from the lead group apparently unnoticed with a lap to go , and finished 20 seconds further in front . Four years later , in Atlanta , Longo-Ciprelli , finally cracked her Olympic jinx . At 37 , Longo-Ciprelli was no longer the dominant presence she had once been , but she still possessed the ability to raise her performance for the biggest races , as she had proven by winning her fourth road race world title in 1995 . Her preparations were typically unorthodox -- while her rivals were acclimatizing to the Atlanta heat , Longo-Ciprelli trained alone in the mountains of Colorado , arriving just two days before the race . The race itself was run in a sudden downpour , which sent many riders crashing and skidding and had the rest struggling to stay on their bikes . Unruffled , Longo-Ciprelli broke clear with two other riders and then launched her gold-winning solo attack 11 kilometers from the finish . Longo-Ciprelli was back for her fifth and final Olympics in Sydney in 2000 at the age of 41 , this time claiming bronze in the time trial -- and event in which she had also won silver in 1996 . E-mail to a friend .
Cyclist 's Olympic record : 1 gold medal , 2 silver medals , 1 bronze medal . - The first woman to win a Winter Olympics Gold Medal in the same event ( figure skating ) was also an American. By 1988 Longo-Ciprelli was a three-time road race world champion .