Argentina’s Jose Augusto Torres surprised everyone with a 94.82 run to steal gold in men’s BMX freestyle. Great Britain’s Keiran Reilly was the most consistent rider all day with two runs of 93.70 and 93.91, but his second run helped him edge out France’s Anthony Jeanjean by .15 for silver.
The 2023 X Games winner, Torres, started off his first run with big air and executed combo after combo with 360s and bars spins. A nice transfer to the big wall and a tailwhip barspin backflip highlighted his run. It was a dream run for the Argentinean and the judges rewarded with a score of 94.82. No one was able to top the score for the rest of the competition. His gold medal is Argentina’s first Olympic medal in any BMX discipline, and it is Argentina’s first men’s individual medal in any sport since the 2012 Games.
France Jeanjean’s day couldn’t have started worse. In front a loud crowd, the Frenchman crashed on his first trick and was unable to finish the ride. He recovered for his second run and landed a huge trick off the bat much to the delight of the crowd. He flew through his run and ended it with an exclamation point with a double back flip to send the crowd into pandemonium. The judges took their time to look at his run, and rewarded Jeanjean with a 93.76.
Reilly showed out in both his runs. His first run featured combo after combo and punctuated it with a huge finish over the spine for a 93.70. He earned a 93.70 on the first run and upped it on his second run to secure silver after watching Jeanjean’s run to end with a high score of 93.91.
American Justin Dowell finished in eighth after winning the 2024 X Games. He waived off a big trick in his second run after a clean first run and finished with a high score of 88.35 from his first run. Teammate Marcus Christopher fell in his first run when he attempted a downside 360. His second run was cleaner but only good enough for a score of 93.11, which left him just off the podium in fourth.
Defending gold medalist Logan Martin looked to be on track for a medal medal run but crashed on an easy trick near the end. It’s a shame he fell because his run featured by a beautiful bike flip, which no one else attempted and would have earned him big points. He’d also fall on his second run.
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