Men’s cross country-mountain bike

1. Nino Schurter (Switzerland)1:33:282. Jaroslav Kulhavý (Czech)1:34:183. Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spain) 1:34:514. Maxime Marotte (France) 1:35:015. Jhonnatan Botero Villegas (Colombia) 1:35:4441. Nathan Byukusenge (Rwanda) -3laps

Rwanda will have to wait for another four years to seek for her first ever Olympic medal after all her seven athletes that featured in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games that concluded on Sunday, returned empty handed.

Veteran mountain bike rider Nathan Byukusenge was the country’s last hopes for silverware in the men’s cross country mountain bike however, the 36-year old journey ended prematurely after bowing out of the 34-kilometre course with three laps remaining.

Byukusenge ranked number 41 out of the 49 riders that had started the competition.

Meanwhile it took Swiss mountain biker Nino Schurter eight years to climb all the way up the Olympic podium, a slow ascent that was at times frustrating, heartbreaking and infuriating.

Schurter finished ahead of the defending Olympic champion, Jaroslav Kulhavy of the Czech Republic, after pulling away from him in the penultimate lap of the race. Kulhavy clocked 1:34:18 to settle for a silver medal.

The finish was a reversal of the London 2012 competition between the two riders, when Schurter finished in second place after Kulhavy overtook him within the last 200m.

Spaniard Carlos Coloma joined them on the podium with a bronze medal after clocking 1:34:51 while French Maxime Marotte finished one minute and 33 seconds behind the gold winner.

 Five-time world champion Julien Absalon of France, who is set to bow out of the sport at the end of this season, finished eighth, while world road race champion Peter Sagan suffered two flat tyres and finished out of contention.

Schurter now has a complete set of Olympic medals, adding his gold at Rio 2016 to the silver he won in London and the bronze he won at Beijing 2008, as well as becoming the first male mountain biker to win three Olympic medals.