BMX racing preview, Aug. 2: Strong start for American racers

BMX racers compete during the quarterfinals at the 2024 Paris Games. - Credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images

BMX racers compete during the quarterfinals at the 2024 Paris Games. – Credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images

The BMX racing qualifying heats took place Thursday at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines BMX Stadium. It was the first time the event was held in a venue for the first time under the lights. The night saw mostly uneventful quarterfinal runs with fewer crashes, an intentional act by the racers to help improve the safety of the sport, three years after Connor Fields suffered a scary crash in Tokyo that shocked the sport to its core.

After the day’s racing, the semifinal heats were set with most of the expected riders advancing without issue. The one interesting qualifying run came from the “Queen of BMX” Mariana Pajon who raced in the last chance race to secure her spot in the semifinals.

American Alise Willoughby had a strong day of runs finishing with the top time in all her heats. The women’s field features all three medalists from Tokyo: Willoughby (bronze), Saya Sakakibara (gold), and Zoe Claessens (silver).

Despite winning all three of her qualifying heats, Willoughby said there’s always room to improve.

“It’s anybody’s game. It’s always going to come down to who shows up in the moment on the day. As good as it is to get some laps under the belt, I’m happy that there’s still room to improve.”

The men’s side features a strong French trio (Joris Daudet, Sylvain Andrew, and Romain Mahieu) who finished as the top-3 riders in qualifiers. Americans Kamren Larsen and Cameron Wood, who finished fourth and fifth, will look to break up the sweep.

The semifinals start at 2 p.m. ET, with two heats of three runs each. Once the final eight are selected there’s just one race to win gold.

Men’s semifinal 1