It was hard to hear Chrissy Redden (CAN, Gary Fisher-Saab) as she told her winning tale, but her smile said it all. The announcers seem to up the volume for the short-track cross country, making it the monster-truck rally of mountain biking, but Redden definitely deserved the attention.

Much like yesterday's cross-country race, Jimena Florit (ARG, RLX Polo Sport) pounced on the lead the moment the women were released from the start. "Happy Girl" Florit packed a smile as she held the front and the rest of the woman chased.

Redden (CAN, Gary Fisher-Saab) was the only woman who could follow Florit's pace. The two made the race their own, pulling well ahead of the chase group. They continued to rub elbows until the final lap, making it a drag race for the finish. On the final descent, Redden shot past Florit and didn't look back.

"I think we were testing each other on the downhill...taking different lines. (During the last descent), she (Florit) took the outside line, I just scooped her and then it was all downhill and I just sprinted for it," said a grinning Redden.

Redden took first by a small margin, leaving Florit with silver.

Mary Grigson (AUS, Gary Fisher-Saab) had red lined early on in the race and overheated in the first lap. She backed off, hoping to cool her engine and found herself amongst the chase pack. She held an even tempo for most of race and pounced when the other women began to tire. Her wise riding added bronze to her enormous collection of medals.

Chris Sheppard (CAN, Haro/Lee Dungarees) made it clear from the beginning that he was the man to beat. He explained that his time amongst the masses was only to warm up! "I saw Seamus (McGrath) at the front; I was sitting in the number three spot and my heart wasn't even maxing out," said Sheppard.

When he tired of riding with the common folk, he punched it, leaving everyone behind. Sheppard had a bit of extra motivation from the crowd, "Everyone was cheering for me and my girlfriend was screaming for me...I couldn't let anyone down!"

He crossed the finish line in first, kissing his recently injured knee.

Sheppard's teammate, Seamus McGrath (CAN, Haro/Lee Dungarees) was patrolling the chase pack, allowing Sheppard his space to race. McGrath gave Sheppard a gap that was too large to close.

McGrath earned himself second and his teammate (Sheppard) first with team tactics and a powerful punch at race end. Ryder Hesjedal (CAN, Gary Fisher-Saab) completed the circle by being the third Canadian to medal (bronze.)

Fresh off a cross-country win, Steve Larsen (US, L.L. Bean-Mongoose) was again the buzz of the day. Midway through the race, his front wheel went awry and sent him to his face. Dizzy from his spill, Larsen re-mounted and assessed the damage from his saddle.

A fat lip and a bleeding nose didn't convince him to quit so he finished the race with blood dripping from his face and the meanest of looks across his mug. It wasn't quite the attention he was hoping for, but he had quite the posse when he finished - every photographer wanted a shot of the bleeding warrior.

— Lucas Kane, for MountainZone.com