BMX Freestyle qualifying round leaves 2020 Olympic medallists Worthington and Ducarroz out of Paris finals

BMX Freestyle qualification by Kieran Reilly (Great Britain) at Place de la Concorde, Paris
BMX Freestyle qualification by Kieran Reilly (Great Britain) at Place de la Concorde, Paris was the best for the men (Image credit: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

In BMX Freestyle qualifying on Tuesday for the Paris Olympic Games, two podium finishers from the Tokyo 2020 Games - reigning champion Charlotte Worthington (Great Britain) and bronze medallist Nikita Ducarroz (Switzerland) - were eliminated from the women’s competition.

A total of 18 athletes moved on to the BMX Freestyle finals on Wednesday, nine women and nine men, led by reigning world champions Hannah Roberts (USA) and Kieran Reilly (Great Britain). 

“There was a lot of pressure, I wasn’t feeling great on the bike but I still wanted to try to do everything I could,” Ducarroz explained. “In the end, it wasn’t enough. It’s cool to see the level since Tokyo. It’s really gone up. Even now, it’s the first time we’ve had Olympic qualifications, so tomorrow, it’s going to be even stronger. The level increase stresses me out a bit, but it’s cool to see.”

“The first run was a bit nerve-wracking. I really stuck to what I needed to do,” Roberts said. “I had a scare when something fell, and I had to ride around it. I was baking in the heat and glad to get it done. I was super happy with my first run.”

The sunny, hot conditions continued as the men took the course at Place de la Concorde, temperatures in Paris hitting 36 degrees Celsius (97 Fahrenheit). 

Reilly set the mark for the men on his first run with 91.68, then finished with the best average score, 91.21. Marcus Christopher (USA) and Logan Martin (Australia), the reigning men’s Olympic champion, battled for the next top spots, respectively, separated by nine-hundredths of a second, the American with an average score of 89.48 to Martin’s 89.39. A second US athlete moved on with fourth, Justin Dowell.

“For today I’m probably more nervous because there are two runs and both count, you don’t have a ‘safety run’ and tomorrow I have to improve my tricks again. But it definitely helps with the confidence,” said reigning Olympic champion Logan Martin.

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Jackie Tyson
North American Production editor

Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).