The men’s BMX qualifying races played out as expected – the French trio of Joris Daudet, Romain Mahieu and Sylvain Andrew dominated the heats. The women’s heats were a bit more of a variable but mostly played out as expected with American and gold medal favorite Alise Willoughby winning all three of her heats to advance to the semifinals on Friday.
A noticeable difference at this Games from ones previous was the lack of contact behind riders. In recent years, there’s been a concentrated effort to try and improve the safety of the sport, one known for its dramatic and injury-inducing crashes.
Men’s qualifying race
Times were fast in the men’s BMX racing qualifying races, with times several seconds faster than in any previous races at the track.
The first run saw the French win two out of three heats, with the France’s Daudet and Andre going 1-2 in the first heat. American Kamren Larsen also had a good first run. Larsen had the tough draw of Daudet and Andre, so he finished third, while Cameron Wood won his heat.
In the second run, Wood and Mahieu drew the same heat. Wood finished in second while Mahieu finished in third, which kept both men on track to make the semifinal. Daudet had no issues in his second run in a heat that saw a fall in the rear. In another France-U.S. showdown Andrew and Larsen finished their heat 1-2.
The final race, again saw Daudet and Mahieu dominate the first heat, with Wood finishing fourth. Andrew and Larsen faced off in the second heat, with pair finishing 1-2.
France’s trio had no issues qualifying for the semifinals on Friday. The Americans also had a strong showing from Larsen and Wood who finished fourth and fifth overall, respectively.
Women’s qualifying race
The first run of the evening saw Willoughby joined by teammates Daleny Vaughn and Felicia Stancil. Willoughby controlled the heat, Vaughn finished behind her and Stancil would finish fifth. Medal favorite Saya Sakakibara from Australia and reigning Olympic champion Bethany Shriever from Great Britain won the first and third heats, respectively.
American Stancil had a disappointing run 2, as she finished last in her heat. In the second heat, Shriever repeated her good run, with medal favorite Zoe Claessens finishing second. The last heat of the second run saw Willoughby and Vaughn race together. Willoughby again controlled her heat, while Vaugn crossed in fourth.
The final run for the women saw Sakakibara win her third run of the evening. Shriever dominated the second heat that featured Vaughn and Stancil, the later finished a disappointing seventh. The third heat, saw Willoughby win her third race of the evening.
At the end of the evening, Vaughn joined Willoughby in the semifinals while teammate Stancil would finish a disappointing 22nd overall and not advance in her second Olympics.
In the last chance race, the “queen of BMX” Mariana Pajon dominated from start to finish to squeak into the semifinals.
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