Tokyo Olympics: British cyclist Worthington wins first Olympic BMX freestyle gold
Tokyo/UNI/Xinhua: British cyclist Charlotte Worthington won the gold of the inaugural Olympic BMX freestyle at the Tokyo Olympic Games here on Sunday.
Under the format, nine riders get 60 seconds to fit in as many tricks as they can on various obstacles, including box jumps, hips, spines, and quarter pipes as music blasts at Ariake Urban Sports Park.
Worthington recovered from a fall on her first run to deliver an action-packed score of 97.50 points to grab the women's BMX freestyle gold on her second run.
"I did not put any pressure on myself, really. I tried to just focus on enjoying myself and taking it one trick at a time," Worthington said.
Worthington, who only started competing in 2016, became the first Olympic gold medalist of BMX freestyle.
"I'm over the moon. I'm still sitting here waiting to wake up. I've been thinking about this day for the past three or four years, just going in and out of thinking I can, or I can't do it," Worthington added.
American cyclist Hannah Roberts, who won the world championships in the event in 2017, 2019 and 2021, took the silver with 96.10 points, while the bronze went to Nikita Ducarroz of Switzerland in 89.20.
Later on, Australian Logan Martin won the men's edition after he put in a powerhouse first performance in the final, scoring 93.30 points in his first run to take the gold.
"I won the seeding run, then came out here and my first run was actually a safety run. I wanted to land a run I knew I could deliver, make it clean, keep it consistent, and that really paid off," Martin said.
Daniel Dhers of Venezuela took the silver in 92.05, and British cyclist Declan Brooks bagged the bronze in 90.80.
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