The French dominance in BMX racing was complete. The Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines BMX stadium, part of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome, was the scene of a total celebration for the French men's riders. They took the lead from start to finish in a spectacular event that delighted the crowds. 

After a week of competition, the medals for France had the enthusiastic fans applauding, knowing that France were the favourites but not expecting such a clean sweep.

In the women's competition, Australian Saya Sakakibara put on a masterclass. She beat Manon Veenstra, who took silver, and Swiss favourite Zoe Claessens, who ended up with bronze.

The performance of the French team was exceptional. They took the first three places on the podium. Joris Daudet, who had dominated the earlier rounds, took the top step, followed by Sylvain André with silver and Romain Mahieu with bronze.

Colombia's Mariana Pajón, double Olympic champion at London 2012 and Rio 2016 and silver medallist in Tokyo, was one of the surprises. She failed to qualify for the final.

"My body made it to these Games because my heart still believed in my chances and that's why it held out," the Colombian champion told local media.

The French are the best in this discipline, and it was no different on home soil. They have won 50 BMX world championship gold medals since 1982. Daudet and Mahieu are ranked first and second in the world. However, they have never performed well at the Olympic Games, winning just two medals in Beijing 2008, the year BMX made its Olympic debut. In Tokyo 2020, the Dutchman Niek Kimmann won the title.

However, he was absent this time due to illness. The way was clear for French dominance. Daudet now adds this Olympic gold to his nine BMX World Championship medals, including three golds in 2011, 2016 and 2024.

Australia's Saya Sakakibara won the women's gold medal. Manon Veenstra of the Netherlands took silver and Zoe Claessens of Switzerland took bronze. Sakakibara was ranked number one in BMX racing in 2024 and 2023. She overcame a serious crash at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and an accident in 2022 that affected her lungs.

Sakakibara and Mahieu, who are in a relationship, will each be home with a medal (gold and bronze) from the same Games and in the same discipline.

Men's final times:

Joris Daudet: 31.422

Sylvain André: 31.706

Romain Mahieu: 32.022

Women's final times:

Saya Sakakibara: 34.231

Manon Veenstra: 34.954

Zoe Claessens: 35.060