A 21-year-old won Olympic gold just a month after a driver hit him and broke his shoulder into 5 pieces

• Tom Pidcock, 21, won an Olympic gold medal in the mountain bike cross-country event Monday.
• The British athlete beat second-placed Matthias Fluckiger by a 20-second margin in Tokyo.
• Pidcock's victory was remarkable because last month a driver hit him and broke his shoulder.

A 21-year-old won a mountain bike cross-country Olympic gold medal just a month after breaking his collarbone when a driver hit him during a training session.

Tom Pidcock of Great Britain claimed the Olympic title Monday, making history as his country's first-ever champion in that event.

The youngster dominated the field and never lost the lead when he got in front, finishing with a time of 1 hour, 25 minutes, and 14 seconds.

Switzerland's Mathias Fluckiger claimed the silver medal as he trailed Pidcock by 20 seconds, and bronze medalist David Valero, of Spain, finished 34 seconds behind Pidcock.

Pidcock was so far in the lead he was able to get his British flag ready to wave it before he had crossed the finished line.

"It's nothing like any other race," Pidcock said after his win, according to the official Team GB website.

"The Olympics just transcends any sport. You compete and represent your country and everyone in your country is behind you, no matter in what sports they like. It's just national pride, it's unbelievable."

For the Briton, victory was by no means guaranteed because he was knocked off his bike at the start of June and suffered an injury that required surgery.

Six days after the surgery, he was back on the saddle.

In an Instagram post at the time, Pidcock said his collarbone was smashed into five pieces. But he never wavered from his ambition of not only competing at the Tokyo Gamesbut winning first place.

"It's been a such a hard time coming here from crashing and breaking my collarbone and that's just unbelievable," said Pidcock.

"I know that my mum and girlfriend are crying at home. It's sad that they can't be here but I'll see them when I get home."