women's road race in Rio de Janeiro.
Abbott finished just four seconds behind the top three riders.
Abbot, a climbing specialist, was leading the race just 13 miles from the finish line. She managed to miss a nasty crash, but was caught by the top three finishers right at the end of the race.
She told the Boulder Daily Camera she felt "awful" missing out on the bronze.
"I just had to go as hard as I could to the finish, and it just wasn’t quite good enough," she said.
The U.S. women's team had one of the strongest teams going into the 87-mile long course.
Anna van der Breggen from the Netherlands won the race.
