Over at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines BMX Stadium, the BMX racers got their campaigns underway yesterday with three quarter-final races each. 

A low-points system was used, with heat winners scoring one point and the last-placed rider in each heat scoring eight.

The top 12 qualified directly for the semi-finals, with the next eight qualifying for the Last Chance Race, the first time this repechage-style system has been used at the Olympic Games, and the top four from that qualifying.

Women's final

Mariana Pajón, the Queen of BMX, wanted to regain her crown this 2 of July in the final race. After two gold medals in London 2012 and Rio 2016, the Olympic runner-up in Tokyo was aiming to put the finishing touch to a legendary career in Paris.

At 32, her body is not the same as the one that conquered glory in the British capital twelve years ago or in Rio eight years ago, but, although she is not at her best and injuries and crashes have weighed down her performance in recent months, she had enough ambition and experience to earn the respect of her opponents and to ensure that the possibility of a podium finish is not a pipe dream. Also, she did not make the podium at this year's UCI BMX Racing World Championships after crashing in the semi-finals at Rock Hill, nor at any of the 2024 World Cup events, but she arrived in the French capital with the confidence of having won her third Pan American gold medal last year.

But it wasn't the case today for her, because the winner of the gold was Saya Sakakibara (AUS).

Men's Final

Alfredo Campo, who qualified for the BMX cycling semifinals in the 'racing' category on Thursday 1 August 2024, was one of the favourites for the day, seeking the gold medal at the Olympic Games to make history in Paris. At the start of the day, France went one-two-three in men’s BMX racing with Joris Daudet crossing the finish line first to take gold with a time of 31.422, followed by Sylvain Andre in silver at 31.706, and Romain Mahieu to earn bronze with a time of 32.022, in an absolute dream podium for the host nation at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The French trio took the lead from the start and held it throughout the race in front of an electrified home crowd at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines BMX stadium.

During the semifinal day yesterday, Campo wore the dorsal number 5 accompanied by the tricolours on his uniform and helmet. In the first heat he placed fourth, which allowed him to score four points and advance. However, in the second heat, Campo showed his skills and finished in first place, beating his American rivals Cameron Wood and Frenchman Romain Mahieu by millimetres.

Ahead of his participation, the 31-year-old athlete was motivated by Daniel Pintado's triumph. "I am preparing to go to the track today in Paris 2024 motivated by the great news and infected with joy by my countryman Brian Daniel Pintado.

Arriba el Ecuador por siempre!", he wrote on his X account. Cyclist Alfredo Campo had Olympic experience with his participation in BMX in Tokyo 2021, where he won the Olympic diploma after finishing fifth. He has also won medals at the 2015 and 2019 Pan American Games.

BMX Freestyle

Both BMX Racing is a new Olympic Sport and BMX Freestyle, which was also recently added to the programme showed that there are leaps and bounds to come when on 31 July the women's final kicked off when local favourite Laury Perez of France suffered an early accident.

Perez fell 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.

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. The 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.