BMX 2024 Paris Olympics Review

Men’s Freestyle

Kieran Reilly (Great Britain) impressed in qualifying, leading both runs, with Marcus Christopher (United States) qualifying second. Ernest Zebolds (Latvia) opened the final with a 86.94. Gustavo Batista de Oliveira (Brazil) would soon eclipse that with a 90.20 only for Jose Torres Gil (Argentina) to go to 94.82. Home favourite Anthony Jeanjean (France) crashed heavily on his first run, while Reilly went second with 93.70. Rimu Nakamura (Japan) improved his second run a bit to score 90.89. Jeanjean put together a massive combination of opening jumps and was given a 93.76. Logan Martin (Australia) would not defend his crown as his touched down on his second run. Christopher could only score 93.21 to just miss out on the medals. Last to go, Reilly was guaranteed a medal. It was a big run but it would only score 93.91 to win silver.

🥇Jose Torres Gil 🇦🇷

🥈Kieran Reilly 🇬🇧

🥉Anthony Jeanjean 🇫🇷

Prediction analysis; 2 Medalists correct

I mention Gil as an outsider but even in the final, it felt surprising that he was able to compete. It seemed like a benefit to go early in the final. I thought Reilly had the ability to go stronger on the second run but he did not put it together. It felt like Martin adopted a gold or bust mentality which hindered my medal prediction.

Men’s Race

France dominated this from start to finish. Sylvain Andre (France) led a French one-two-three in the quarter finals. They also dominated the semi finals, with only French riders winning races. Roman Mahieu (France) won all three semi-finals in the second semi whilst Andre split races with Joris Daudet (France). In the final, Mahieu got the quickest start, pushing Izaac Kennedy (Australia) wide, allowing the French trio to lead into the first corner. It was Daudet who led and soon opened a big gap. The positions remained and French would seal a one-two-three. Cedric Butti (Switzerland) came closest to passing the Frenchman but could not manage it.

🥇Joris Daudet 🇫🇷

🥈Sylvain Andre 🇫🇷

🥉Romain Mahieu 🇫🇷

Prediction analysis; 2 Medalists correct, 2 perfect prediction.

It feels silly when you go to predict a sweep. I mainly got this right, with the five names mentioned as the likeliest contenders, also the five names relevant in the review of the final. Kennedy will perhaps feel he could have medalled if he hadn’t have been driven wide.

Women’s Freestyle

Hannah Roberts (United States) scored biggest in the first qualification run and although Deng Yawen (China) topped the second run, Roberts qualified in first with a better average. Arguably the biggest news was Charlotte Worthington (Great Britain) missing out on qualifying for the final. The early lead in the final came from Natalya Diehm (Australia) with an 88.50. Sun Jiaqi (China) almost nailed a big run but fell towards the end of the run. Compatriot Yawen laid down a great run, including triple bars, to score 92.50. Roberts would fall on a front flip in her first run. With four women left it was Queen Villegas Serna (Colombia) on 88 in bronze. Parris Benegas (United States) went into second with a score of 90.70. Jiaqi would again fall on a massive jump. Yawen improved to 92.60 leaving just Roberts capable of beating her. Roberts put her foot down on the first trick and missed out on the medals.

🥇Deng Yawen 🇨🇳

🥈Parris Benegas 🇺🇸

🥉Natalya Diehm 🇦🇺

Prediction analysis; 1 Medalists correct

Again, it was a gold or bust mentality which potentially cost Roberts, whereas a safe run would have probably got her in the medals. I had a feeling Worthington would miss the final but did not go out on the limb and actually predict it. Benegas and Diehm are mentioned but I did not see either competing, especially Diehm.

Women’s Race

Alice Willoughby (United States), Bethany Shriever (Great Britain) and Saya Sakakibara (Great Britain) dominated their heats, winning all three races. Shriever and Sakakibara would repeat that feat in the semi finals with Manon Veenstra (Netherlands) and Laura Smulders (Netherlands) tied on nine points to qualify joint second. In the final, it was Sakkibara who led into the first corner with Zoe Claessens (Switzerland) and Veenstra battling behind her. No one was able to come from behind and they finished behind the dominant Australian.

🥇Saya Sakakibara 🇦🇺

🥈Manon Veenstra 🇳🇱

🥉Zoe Claessens 🇨🇭

Prediction analysis; 2 Medalists correct, 1 perfect prediction.

The whole competition this looked like a battle between Sakakibara and Shriever, only for Shriever to get a poor start and never really contend in the final. I referenced the Dutch team and thought that Claasens could win a shock medal.