Another Armstrong wins cycling gold

By Deborah Charles

BEIJING (Reuters) - No, she's not related to Lance Armstrong. But Olympic gold medalist Kristin Armstrong is proud to share some traits with the seven-time Tour de France winner, whom she describes a wonderful role model.

"I get that question quite a bit -- if Lance and I are related," Armstrong said after beating Briton Emma Pooley and Karin Thurig of Switzerland to win the women's 23.5-km time trial at the Great Wall of China.

"The answer's no, but I feel like we have a lot of similarities. We both come from a triathlon background; we both have the same mentality."

Armstrong placed eighth in the road race in Athens, then in 2006 became only the third American in history to win a world championship in the women's time trial.

Before she started cycling competitively Armstrong was a swimmer and triathlete, competing in the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii in 1999.

She was diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the hips and told to stop doing high-impact sports like running. She began cycling as therapy for her condition then started competing.

"The sport of cycling in America isn't huge. I think that the audience is every four years at the Olympics or when Lance Armstrong is winning the Tour.

"So I hope that winning the gold medal will bring the fans out more than just one day every four years."

(Editing by Jeremy Laurence)