The 32-year-old delivered Australia its first medal of the Paris Olympics with a dominant performance to win the 32.4km women’s individual time trial at Pont Alexandre III.
It was Australia’s first medal in the Women's Road Time Trial and the nation’s first gold medal on the road since Sara Carrigan in 2004.
Grace was met at the finish line by Chef de Mission Anna Meares, who until now, was Australian cycling’s last female gold medallist from back in 2012.
Grace led the time trial at every checkpoint and managed to avoid a crash on wet and slippery roads to win in the time of 39mins 38secs which was more than 1min 30secs faster than Great Britain’s Anna Henderson and American world champion Chloe Dygert who were on the podium.
“I think it’s sinking in now that I’m speaking to everyone and understanding the significance of winning a gold medal - it’s a really big deal,” Grace said.
“And just thinking of all the people who have supported me to this point, put their belief in what I can do here and given me the strength to go after it.
“To repay everyone with a gold medal is just awesome.
“When I was running I had this feeling that if I really nailed everything then maybe I could make an Olympic team, but I kept getting injured.
“I started cycling just out of frustration with my injuries and it’s just gone really well.”
After being denied a medal by just seven seconds when she was fourth in the time trial in Tokyo, and consecutive silver medals in the world championships, Grace refused to allow herself to dream of what a gold medal would feel like before the race in Paris.
“It was one of my strategies to really just focus on everything up until I crossed the finish line,” she said.
“I was coming here to do my fastest, strongest race I could do and whatever the result I was going to be happy with it as long as I executed as best I could.
“Of course I planned to do a race that could win me a gold medal, but I didn’t want to anticipate the feeling after the line, and it’s allowing me to just live it in real time and it’s awesome.”
Grace, who has announced she will retire from competitive cycling at the end of this year, will be back in action in the women’s road race on August 4.
