Training in Park City helped Leipheimer to win a bronze medal

JUYONGGUAN, China — For nearly a month earlier this summer, cyclist Levi Leipheimer trained in the Park City mountains that some 150 years ago attracted thousands of miners in search of silver.

And Wednesday, about 40-plus miles north of Beijing, Leipheimer cycled his way to another precious metal — or better yet, precious medal — in the mountains shouldering the famous Great Wall of China.

With a late push to move to third place from fifth in the men's time trials, Leipheimer — who prepped at Salt Lake City's Rowland Hall — claimed the event's bronze medal, the first medal of any color won by a Utah Olympian at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games.

"I was really fighting hard for that medal," he said. "It has been a lifelong dream to get a medal in the Olympics, so I gave it everything I had on that last bit and pushed myself very hard — and it paid off."

Leipheimer finished the 48-kilometer course — consisting of two 24-kilometer laps, starting just below the Juyongguan section of the Great Wall, climbing up the highway to the wall's Badaling section, and then back down to Juyongguan on a near-parallel road.

His time of 1 hour, 3 minutes and 21.11 seconds trailed only gold medalist Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland (1:02:11.43) and silver medalist Gustav Larsson of Sweden (1:02:44.79).

After finishing, Leipheimer collapsed in a heap beyond the finish line, admitting later to being "delirious" from exhaustion.

Contrary to custom, he sat on the ground, collecting his thoughts, his breath and any available bottle of water within reach while watching the final half-dozen cyclists finish the race, waiting to see if his time would hold up for the bronze.

It did, and Leipheimer, who placed 11th in Saturday's 240-kilometer road race, became the second American cyclist to win a time trials medal that day.

Boise's Kristin Armstrong won the gold medal in the women's time trials, giving the United States five time trials cycling medals combined from the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.

"To see her win definitely gave me morale," said Leipheimer. "It made me believe a little more in myself."