By Geert De Clercq
PARIS (Reuters) – The women’s Olympic BMX Freestyle competition was shaken up on Tuesday as Tokyo silver medallist Hannah Roberts of the U.S. qualified for the finals in first place, but the gold and bronze medallists from the previous Games failed to go through.
Under a scorching sun over the Place de la Concorde, Tokyo 2021 gold medallist Charlotte Worthington of Britain and bronze medal winner Nikita Ducarroz of Switzerland were not among the nine riders who went through to Wednesday’s finals.
“I’ve fought a lot of battles just to get here today and the only fight that I was fighting out there was with myself,” Worthington, who has previously spoken of her mental health issues, told reporters.
Roberts said qualifying was the priority, coming first a boon.
“Sitting in first is an extreme advantage for watching what everybody else is doing and then placing yourself and seeing what needs to be done tomorrow for hopefully a medal,” she said.
Two Chinese riders – Yawen Deng and Jiaqi Sun – came second and third respectively, with Deng’s total of 91.03 just behind Roberts’ 91.45.
Both are trained by freestyle veteran Daniel Dhers of Venezuela, who won silver in Tokyo, as part of a China’s drive to boost its medal count.
“I was not bothered by heat or noise, I just focused on my moves,” Deng said, adding that the crowd’s cheers for French rider Laury Perez, who rode before her, had helped her performance.
In the men’s competition, Britain’s Kieran Reilly sailed effortlessly through the Paris skies and was the only rider with an average score over 90 after his two one-minute rides.
“Qualifying is always one of the most stressful stages of the competition … The final is a different beast … If you’ve watched me compete before, tomorrow I’m going to blow that all out of the water,” he said.
Reigning Olympic Champion Logan Martin, from Australia, qualified in third position, while U.S. riders Marcus Christopher and Justin Dowell came second and fourth.
Lifted by a lively home crowd, French rider Anthony Jeanjean was fifth in what he said was part of a strategy to keep the pressure on the rest of the pack.
“We have applied this strategy all year and it has worked well. Fifth place is a good base for tomorrow,” he said.
A four-time European championship medallist, Jeanjean finished seventh in Tokyo, but is one of the favourites to win on home soil this year.
(Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Editing by Toby Davis)
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