MELISSA Hoskins’ dream of bringing home an Olympic gold was lost despite brave attempts to recover from a training crash.
The Lesmurdie track cyclist was the most seriously injured when four of the women’s team pursuit riders came off their bikes in the Rio Velodrome last Monday .
Australia beat Italy to place fifth with a 4:21.23 ride on Saturday.
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READ NOWThe team could only watch as Great Britain set a world record of 4:10.23 to beat the US in the final.
Hoskins (25) was in the team that won the world championship in France last year, with a 4.20.26 run over the 4000m course.
In Rio, the battered team saw their world record broken twice by the GB team.
The Aussie cyclists got off to a good start against the US in the rounds, but faded after Hoskins peeled off and the Americans picked up the pace.
Hoskins returned to the track for training less than 48-hours after she left hospital on crutches with a badly bruised hip.
Her teammates Amy Cure and Annette Edmondson had minor injuries, but Ashlee Ankudinoff’s shoulder injury kept her off the tracks.
Hoskins said the crash was unfortunate, but the team was tough and deserved better luck.