The 25-year-old broke her collarbone for the second time this year in May but battled back to full fitness in time to take on the women's time trial.
Several riders suffered falls as rain swept across the French capital, but former skier Henderson was able to stay on-piste and crossed Pont Alexandre III in 41:09.83, fast enough to edge out Chloe Dygert who was among those to come off her bike - for silver by less than a second.
"Last year, I was two seconds from the bronze at Worlds, so I'm really happy to be on the right side of the seconds this time," she said. "I'm really proud.
"The second one [injury] mentally hurt a lot, and it really took a lot to get back and get the motivation again. But I always had Paris on my mind and that really carried me through, and I can't stop mentioning the people around me who got me through.
"It [missing the Olympics] did cross my mind; it was a really low point of my season, but I bounced back quickly. I won at the nationals, had a really good ride at the Tour of Britain and had a really good run into this. I'm really happy with my form and really happy with my ride."
Esta historia es de la edición July 28, 2024 de The Independent.
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