By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer
IZU, Japan (AP) — Shanne Braspennincx was waiting to step on the track for her semifinal in the keirin at the Tokyo Olympics when her Dutch teammate, Laurine van Riessen, crashed heavily in the first turn and had to be taken out on a stretcher.
The sobering sight didn’t do anything to scare Braspennincx before her turn in the chaotic sprinting discipline.
If anything, it only gave her more resolve.
Braspennincx responded by roaring through her heat race and semifinal, then concluded her dramatic afternoon at the Izu Velodrome by holding off New Zealand’s Ellesse Andrews on the final straightaway to win the gold medal.
“I still have to gather my thoughts. It’s still so unbelievable,” said the 30-year-old Braspennincz, who returned from a heart attack in 2015 to reach the pinnacle of her sport. “It’s all just blur. Everything is…
