U.S. cycles and sails to trio of medals

SYDNEY — Two if by land. And one if by sea.

The Americans took a trio of medals Saturday, with skipper Mark Reynolds riding a shifting wind to a sailing gold medal, and cyclists Lance Armstrong and Mari Holden pedaling to a bronze and a silver.

Reynolds, a San Diego sailmaker, won the first U.S. sailing gold medal since he won the Star gold at Barcelona in 1992. Holden won the second U.S. cycling medal in Sydney, and two-time Tour de France champion Armstrong quickly added a third.

Armstrong, a three-time Olympian who had never won a medal, wound up with the bronze in the 33-mile time trial. Viacheslav Ekimov of Russia took the gold, while Jan Ullrich of Germany took the silver.

Armstrong, who earlier missed out on a medal in the Olympic road race, had targeted Sydney's time trial as his bid for the gold. But his effort, just one month after he broke a neck vertebra in a French car accident, came up short.

Holden opened the penultimate day of Olympic competition with her second-place finish Saturday (Friday night EDT) in the women's time trial. She covered the 18-mile course in 42 minutes flat.

The five-time national champion from Colorado Springs, Colo., bounced back after a rough trip in the Olympic road race earlier in the week. Mechanical problems and a crash knocked her out of the medal chase there.

Holden finished second to Leontien Zijlaard of the Netherlands, who won her third gold medal of the Sydney Games. Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli of France, soon to turn 42, won the bronze.

"I was definitely motivated today," Holden said. "I was just hoping for no flats."

Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli of France won the bronze in 42:52. Karen Kurreck of Los Altos Hills, Calif., finished 16th in 44:33.

By her split times, Holden clearly was in the medal chase. But since she was the fourth of 12 riders in her flight, the only question was whether her fast times would withstand the challenge of later riders.

"In my head, I thought I could win a medal," Holden said. "But I think I was the only one to think that."

It was the second cycling medal for the United States, coming after Marty Nothstein's gold in match sprint.

The Americans remained atop the medal table with 81 (33 gold, 20 silver, 28 bronze). Russia was next with 66 (21-22-23), followed by China's 56 (26-15-15).