9 minute read
THE 2020 (2021) TOKYO OLYMPIC GAMES
Talk about thrills and spills: Connor’s crash in the third semi. Alise’s crash in her semi’s. Felicia looking strong and being the medal favorite in the main. Joris’ slide-out in the last turn, while in the bronze-medal position. ...and how about those Gold medal winners?! WOW! Niek Kimmann of The Netherlands wins it from LANE EIGHT! UK’s Bethany Shriever funding her own way to Tokyo and holding off the last-straight charge from Mariana Pajon!
SPANNING THE GLOBE
At the risk of dating myself as an old-timer, while watching the Tokyo Olympics games, I couldn’t help but think of the famous intro of ABC’s Wide World of Sports, that all of us first-gen BMXers watched religiously every weekend. The voice-over guy said it all - “The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat,” (as on the screen, a ski-jumper takes a huge digger, somersaulting off the ramp). If you’re young, just google it.
FOR THE CONSTANT VARIETY OF SPORT
After the first day of qualifying (starting off with four quarter mains for our 24 men and 24 women), racers would run three rounds to see who’d move on and which eight would be watching from the sidelines. Of the day one highlights, Felicia Stancil held the fastest lap-time out of all the ladies, and was looking extremely focused and determined. Alise Willoughby was also looking strong, but had her good and bad moments. In the first quarter, she cased a jump, took a deep breath and went from dead last to sprint all the way up to the front. Surprisingly, Australia’s Anthony Dean and Swiss’ recent World Cup winner Simon Marquart - both predicted main-makers, were among the eight men whose medal quest ended early.
Being so close to San Francisco Bay wind is almost always present and day one was no exception. Headwinds on
World Champion Nicole Foronda and BMX Sharks’ AVA Corley go bar to bar.
If they handed out medals for coolest Olympic bikes, both USA’s Corben Sharrah (#24) and UK’s Kye Whyte (#5) would’ve been duking it out like they are here. By the main, all three French riders had made the big show - including Sylvain Andre (#3) and Romain Mahieu (#100).
Day two was scheduled to start off with semi’s - which, like a Grands main, would run three times. But a Japanese rainstorm kicked things off instead. Much like the BMX debut in Beijing, we had a brief delay, before the tsunami of high speeds and bigtime airtime would hit. The track still has a few wet spots, and that could (and would) play a factor in the final outcomes. For the millions of viewers watching from home, it seemed as if there were more crashes in BMX than in the final laps of the Daytona 500. The Dutch riders found themselves in trouble after a coupla spills, as did USA’s Corben Sharrah and Alise Willoughby. Going into the third and final semi, Corben had 12 points, while The Beast had 11. A first or second for Alise could still put her in the final, and she was right there in the two spot, heading toward the final turn, when her and Australian medal favorite Saya Sakakibara hooked bars and took a dramatic digger. Connor Fields, on the other hand, had been looking as strong as he did in Rio, and was sitting pretty after the first two semis, with a low four points. It was likely he could’ve taken last and still make the main which, in fact, is how it played out. The Con-man and Frenchman Romain Mahieu were battling for the lead in the third semi and overlapped wheels as they took the low, inside line into turn one. In the process, Connor took a huge head-slapper and was carted off the track on a stretcher. Oh, the agony of defeat!
HUMAN DRAMA OF ATHLETIC COMPETITION
Finally, it was main time! Format was one lap, no crap. First-up came the women - with eight riders from eight different countries. So far in semi’s, Great Britain’s Bethany Schriever has pulled the fastest lap times, marking her as the one to beat this day. Presumably, her toughest comp would come from two-time Gold medalist Mariana Pajon (coming out of lane three) and Team USA’s Felicia Stancil (focussed, over in lane five). As the gate slammed down, Pajon and Schriever were about tied at the bottom of the green, 8-meter hill. By the time they entered the first turn, Schriever had a solid lead and the race was on for second place. Up high was France’s Axelle Etienne, and cutting hard to the inside and Pajon and “the other” Smulders sister. As Bethany continued to pull ahead of the pack, the real race was for second place. In a feat of super-human skills, Felicia skied the giant step-double as four others stuck to the ground. Despite Stancil losing a bit of momentum, she set her sights on getting past Etienne, just as Mariana closed the gap on the leader. Out of the final turn, onto the home stretch, Pajon pulled up alongside Bethany. Now grip-to-grip, it looked as if Pajon could very well win a third straight Gold, but Schriever scrubbed the final double-jump to hang on for the win. Mariana was about half-a-wheel short, as she pushed her GW bike at the stripe. What a victory for Bethany, who after getting defunded by British Cycling, has been working as a school assistant and crowd-funded her way to Tokyo. 34
Two of the three defending Mens medalists from Rio, out front in Tokyo. Colombia’s Carlos Ramirez was the only one to repeat. Surprisingly, Equador’s Alfredo Campo (#593) would make the main.
How close was the finish in the men’s main? This is the last jump, with Niek Kimmann out front, and that is Kye Whyte’s front wheel puttin’ on the pressure.
For the Smulders sisters, Merel’s bronze medal from Tokyo matches her sister Laura’s from Rio. How cool is that?! For the men, it’d be a seven-man final, as Connor Fields was on his way to a Japanese emergency room. In a Maris-like move, Netherland’s Niek Kimmann picked lane eight, while three-time No.1 Pro Joris Daudet took lane one. Of the seven riders in this final, three were from France; so the odds were definitely in their favor. Joris got the early holeshot at the bottom of the hill, but UK’s Kye Whyte grabbed the lead at the first jump. Coming out of lane four, with an empty lane five, Whyte had nothing but room to lay down his ponies. With a clear line ahead of him from his outside gate, Niek Kimmann hit the turbos and would up getting to the first turn, first. While Daudet was bumping elbows in turn one with teammate Sylvain Andre, it left the door wide open for Colombia’s little magician - Carlos Rameriz, to cut hard inside, sending him from sixth to third in a split second. But Joris would quickly take back his bronze-medal position. Whyte was giving it his all to catch the leader of the Dutch army as they sped into the final turn. Suddenly, without warning, Daudet slid out all by himself, now handing an Olympic medal over to Ramirez (who’d won bronze in Rio 2016). At the finish, Kimmann took a peek over his shoulder to see that Whyte was right there, about one bike length behind. It was another amazing Olympic main - and a long time coming for the Dutch National team. We can only imagine
BMX MEDAL COUNT
MENS OLYMPIC MAIN (RACING)
1 Niek Kimmann Netherlands 2 Kye Whyte Great Britain 3 Carlos Ramirez Colombia 4 Sylvain Andre France 5 Alfredo Campo Equador 6 Romain Mahieu France 7 Joris Daudet France (DNS) Connor Fields USA
WOMENS OLYMPIC MAIN (RACING)
1 Bethany Schriever Great Britain 2 Mariana Pajon Colombia 3 Merel Smulders Netherlands 4 Felicia Stancil USA 5 Lauren Reynolds Australia 6 Simone Christensen Denmark 7 Axelle Etienne France 8 Drew Mechielsen Canada
The 2021 Olympic Women’s main blasts down the second straight. At this point, Bethany Schriever had already checked out (so far out front that she’s out of frame), while two-time Gold medalist Mariana Pajon stays low with France’s Axelle Ettiene, Dutch rider Merel Smulders and Canadian Drew Mechielsen, while USA’s Felicia Stancil takes it upstairs. Amazingly, Pajon would reel in Schriever and came inches away from a third Gold.
To say that Great Britain had an incredible 2021 Olympics would be an understatement. In racing and freestyle, they took home four medals: two Gold, one silver and one bronze. ...and more amazingly, they mostly did it without full funding from NGB British Cycling.
BMX FREESTYLE MEDAL COUNT
MENS PARK (FREESTYLE)
1 Logan Martin Australia 2 Daniel Dhers Venenzuela 3 Declan Brooks Great Britain 4 Kenneth Tenico Costa Rica 5 Rim Nakamura Japan 6 Irek Rizaev Russia 7 Anthony Jean France 8 Justin Dowell USA 9 Nick Bruce USA
WOMENS PARK (FREESTYLE)
1 Charlotte Worthington Great Britain 2 Hannah Roberts USA 3 Nikita Ducarroz Switzerland 4 Perris Benengas USA 5 Natalya Diehm Australia 6 Lara Lessmann Germany 7 Minato Oike Japan 8 Macarena Perez Chile 9 Elizaveta Posadskikh Russia
the smile on the face of former KNWU coach Bas deBever, who originally built their program.
TO BE CONTINUED ... (in three years)
Freestyle’s BMX Park competition made it’s Olympic debut this time around, and that’s a story for a whole ‘nuther day. **Spoiler Alert: Team USA did come away with one medal - a silver, from Michigan’s Hannah Roberts. Lucky for us all, we only have to wait three years until the next Olympic saga. With many multi-time Olympians hitting their 30’s, it’ll be interesting to see who qualifies for Paris 2024 and which youngsters will become the next generation of Team USA... stay tuned.
OCTOBER 7, 8, 9. & 10, 2021
