Italy was the only team that had beaten Lehman and Team USA at these Olympics in the team pursuit. Besides that, the American trio went undefeated this World Cup season.

So it was only natural the two teams met in the gold medal race, two days after they competed in the qualifiers. Both times, the host nation used a strong finish to upset the world record holding red, white and blue.

Up until the final lap, the contenders were within a second of each other.

Team USA grabbed a narrow lead of just over a tenth of a second after the second lap. Two go-arounds later, the Americans had the largest split margin of the race with just over sixth tenths. But that’s when they started to lose steam.

First they lost four tenths, then six tenths, then one and a half seconds.

Over the final four laps of Lehman’s final chance at Olympic gold, Team USA conceded nearly one second per trip around the ring to the Italians. After both teams had crossed the line, Lehman and Team USA lost out on gold by 4.51 seconds.

In the final time Lehman will touch Olympic ice, he is heading home with silver.

Even though Team USA was the gold medal favorite, it was Lehman’s best finish in a team pursuit at the Olympics (his previous best was bronze). And while standing on the second step of the podium, receiving his medal, he couldn’t help but smile.

This recap was written be Benjamin Hanson. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @benhansonMU.