Another so-called street sport has started to hand out its medals at Paris 2024. Olympic sports fans are already well accustomed to road cycling, mountain biking and track cycling. BMX was added at Beijing 2008, and Freestyle at Tokyo 2020. Freestyle is the most acrobatic and imaginative, but requires a lot of skill because of the risks athletes take.

The women's final was a clear example. It began with the participation of France's Laury Perez, to the fervour of the local crowd. She suffered an accident on her first jump between the ramps of the cycling park and was unable to continue with her first run. It was not the only accident, but starting the final like that was heart-wrenching. The crowd kept applauding to encourage her and to see if she could recover for the second performance.

Ver esta publicación en Instagram

Una publicación compartida de Paris2024 (@paris2024)

Each of the competitors, as in the men's category, has two performances of one minute each. In each jump, the rider performs some kind of stunt, such as spinning the front wheel 360 degrees, releasing her hands from the handlebars or touching parts of the bike with one hand while in the air. Based on the stunts completed and their originality, they receive a final score.

After Perez's scare, the competition took on the rhythm of an Olympic final. Adrenalin at its peak, nerves and excitement in the stands and a lot of tension to see who would be the best. In the women's category there was a clear winner. Chinese cyclist Deng Yawen swept the first heat with a score of 92.50 points. Second best in the first heat was Australia's Natalya Diehm with 88.80 points. That was almost four points clear. That performance earned Diehm the bronze medal.

The only rider capable of making the final exciting was American Perris Benegas. In the second heat she was able to clock 90.70. With that she won the silver medal. Deng was pleased to improve her score in the second round. 92.60 points, deserving of the gold medal. Another example of young talent at these Olympic Games, as he is only 18 years old. He gave a warning the day before in the qualifying event, where he obtained the second best score. It is China's eighth gold, which makes the Asian country, for the moment, in the medal standings.

On a positive note for the audience, Laury Pérez was able to return to La Concorde for the second round. She finished sixth among the nine finalists thanks to what she proposed in her second exercise. With a sore shoulder, but with the appreciation of the audience.

The men's event had many very high scores. But the one who won the gold medal was the Argentinian José Torres. He had qualified fifth for the final, but in the first heat he scored 94.82 points. He set the bar very high for his rivals. 

Great Britain's Kieran Reilly was the best on Tuesday's qualifying day. In his first heat of the final, he scored 93.70 points. A fantastic performance, but not enough to take first place. In the second round he even improved his score with 93.91 points, but it was still not enough. For him it was the silver medal.

The bronze went to the Frenchman Anthony Jeanjean. He started off on the wrong foot, like his compatriot Perez, but in the second round he flew over La Concorde to 93.76, on the verge of silver and not far from gold. Here the crowd was treated to enjoyment as well as medal rewards.

Ver esta publicación en Instagram

Una publicación compartida de Paris2024 (@paris2024)

American Marcus Christopher also surpassed 93 points in the final, but that was not enough for a medal. His compatriot Logan Martin, Olympic champion at Tokyo 2020, qualified third for the final, but finished last.

Argentina will win its first medal at Paris 2024. And it may even finish higher up the medal table than in Tokyo. There they won three medals, one silver and two bronzes. Now they have tasted gold again with José Torres.