Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's BMX racing

The women's BMX racing competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 29 and 30 July 2021 at the Ariake Urban Sports Park.[1] 24 cyclists from 17 nations competed in the event.[2]

Women's BMX racing
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Olympic BMX cycling
VenueAriake Urban Sports Park
Date29–30 July 2021
Competitors24 from 17 nations
Winning time44.358 s
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Beth Shriever  Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Mariana Pajón  Colombia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Merel Smulders  Netherlands
← 2016
2024 →

Background

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This was the 4th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics since BMX racing was added to the programme in 2008.

The reigning Olympic champion was Mariana Pajón of Colombia, who also won gold in 2012, and the reigning (2019) World Champion was Alise Willoughby of the United States. Willoughby suffered a crash and did not qualify for the final.[3]

A preview by Olympics.com noted the favourites as Pajón, Willoughby, Laura Smulders of the Netherlands (2018 World Champion), and Saya Sakakibara of Australia.[4] Sakakibara also suffered a crash and did not qualify for the final.[5]

Qualification

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A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to three qualified cyclists in the BMX race. Quota places are allocated to the NOC, which selects the cyclists. There were 24 quota places available, allocated as follows:[2]

  • UCI nation ranking (18 places): The top two NOCs each earn three places. NOCs ranked third to fifth each earn two places. NOCs ranked sixth through 11th each earn one place. Each continent was guaranteed one place.
  • UCI elite individual ranking (three places): The three NOCs with the top individuals on this ranking, which have not yet earned any quota places, each earn one place.
  • 2020 World Championships (two places): The top two NOCs at the 2020 UCI BMX World Championships, which have not yet earned any quota places, each earn one place. Because the 2020 World Championships were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these places were reallocated to the UCI nation ranking.
  • Host place (one place): Host nation Japan was guaranteed one place.

Competition format

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The competition was a three-round tournament, with quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. The time-trial seeding run from previous Games was eliminated. In each round, the cyclists raced around a 400 metres (1,300 ft) course with jumps and banked turns. The competition proceeded as follows:[4][6]

  • Quarterfinals: four heats of six cyclists each. Each heat had three runs, using a point-for-place system (one point for the winner of a run, two points for second, etc.), with the lowest points over the three runs winning. The best four cyclists in each heat (16 total) advanced to the semifinals; the others (eight cyclists) were eliminated.
  • Semifinals: two heats of eight cyclists each. Again there were three runs per heat, using the point-for-place system. The top four cyclists in each semifinal (eight total) advanced to the final; the others (eight cyclists) were eliminated.
  • Final: one final of eight cyclists. There was only a single run.

Schedule

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The event took place over two consecutive days.[1]

H Heats QF Quarterfinals SF Semifinals F Finals
BMX, mountain biking and road cycling
Event↓/Date → 24 July 25 July 26 July 27 July 28 July 29 July 30 July 31 Jul 1 Aug
BMX Racing
Women's BMX racing QF SF F

Results

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Quarterfinals

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Sources:[7][8]

Heat 1

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Rank # Name 1st run 2nd run 3rd run Total Notes
1 100   Mariana Pajón (COL) 45.659 (1) 45.576 (1) 46.118 (1) 3 Q
2 210   Simone Christensen (DEN) 46.299 (3) 45.576 (2) 46.542 (2) 7 Q
3 22   Merel Smulders (NED) 46.106 (2) 48.049 (3) 48.751 (5) 10 Q
4 91   Elke Vanhoof (BEL) 46.939 (4) 49.360 (5) 47.190 (3) 12 Q
5 215   Payton Ridenour (USA) 48.434 (5) 48.156 (4) 47.393 (4) 13
6 213   Chutikan Kitwanitsathian (THA) 1:00.717 (6) 59.502 (6) 1:00.786 (6) 18

Heat 2

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Rank # Name 1st run 2nd run 3rd run Total Notes
1 110   Laura Smulders (NED) 44.907 (2) 45.381 (1) 45.572 (1) 4 Q
2 6   Felicia Stancil (USA) 44.412 (1) 46.772 (2) 46.277 (2) 5 Q
3 3   Axelle Étienne (FRA) 45.270 (3) 47.405 (3) 47.524 (3) 9 Q
4 155   Drew Mechielsen (CAN) 47.393 (4) 48.246 (4) 49.128 (5) 13 Q
5 41   Natalia Suvorova (ROC) 48.318 (5) 49.120 (5) 48.266 (4) 14
6 93   Priscilla Carnaval (BRA) 48.740 (6) 51.336 (6) 51.626 (6) 18

Heat 3

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Rank # Name 1st run 2nd run 3rd run Total Notes
1 911   Beth Shriever (GBR) 45.268 (1) 44.660 (1) 44.924 (3) 5 Q
2 209   Zoé Claessens (SUI) 45.622 (2) 45.429 (3) 44.711 (2) 7 Q
3 21   Lauren Reynolds (AUS) 46.030 (3) 45.384 (2) 45.454 (4) 8 Q
4 88   Saya Sakakibara (AUS) 58.446 (6) 45.597 (4) 44.690 (1) 11 Q
5 971   Manon Valentino (FRA) 48.549 (5) 46.945 (5) 47.091 (5) 15
6 212   Vineta Pētersone (LAT) 48.043 (4) 47.875 (6) 47.321 (6) 16

Heat 4

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Rank # Name 1st run 2nd run 3rd run Total Notes
1 1   Alise Willoughby (USA) 46.703 (1) 47.741 (1) 45.410 (1) 3 Q
2 4   Judy Baauw (NED) 49.797 (2) 48.220 (2) 47.503 (3) 7 Q
3 308   Rebecca Petch (NZL) 2:01.322 (5) 48.508 (3) 46.823 (2) 10 Q
4 116   Natalia Afremova (ROC) 54.821 (4) 49.100 (4) 47.807 (4) 12 Q
5 156   Doménica Azuero (ECU) 51.239 (3) 54.593 (5) 49.979 (5) 13
6 85   Sae Hatakeyama (JPN) DNF (6) DNS (8) DNS (8) 22

Semifinals

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Sources:[9][10]

Heat 1

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Rank # Name 1st run 2nd run 3rd run Total Notes
1 6   Felicia Stancil (USA) 46.731 (2) 45.686 (4) 45.855 (1) 7 Q
2 100   Mariana Pajón (COL) 46.167 (1) 45.052 (2) 48.666 (5) 8 Q
3 22   Merel Smulders (NED) 48.076 (6) 45.950 (5) 47.212 (3) 14 Q
4 155   Drew Mechielsen (CAN) 47.365 (3) 46.704 (7) 47.366 (4) 14 Q
5 88   Saya Sakakibara (AUS) 47.618 (5) 44.927 (1) DNF (8) 14
6 308   Rebecca Petch (NZL) 47.597 (4) 46.095 (6) 50.761 (6) 16
7 209   Zoé Claessens (SUI) 1:05.583 (7) 47.149 (8) 46.224 (2) 17
8 1   Alise Willoughby (USA) DNF (8) 45.201 (3) 1:37.566 (7) 18

Heat 2

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Rank # Name 1st run 2nd run 3rd run Total Notes
1 911   Beth Shriever (GBR) 45.687 (1) 45.155 (1) 44.807 (1) 3 Q
2 210   Simone Christensen (DEN) 46.659 (2) 45.751 (4) 45.358 (4) 10 Q
3 3   Axelle Étienne (FRA) 58.865 (6) 45.645 (3) 45.095 (2) 11 Q
4 21   Lauren Reynolds (AUS) 1:09.159 (7) 45.497 (2) 45.317 (3) 12 Q
5 116   Natalia Afremova (ROC) 49.337 (4) 46.479 (5) 46.633 (6) 15
6 91   Elke Vanhoof (BEL) 49.254 (3) 46.744 (6) 47.223 (7) 16
7 4   Judy Baauw (NED) 58.806 (5) 47.387 (7) 45.487 (5) 17
8 110   Laura Smulders (NED) DNF (8) 56.676 (8) 49.580 (8) 24

Final

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Sources:[11][12]

Rank # Name Time
  911   Beth Shriever (GBR) 44.358
  100   Mariana Pajón (COL) 44.448
  22   Merel Smulders (NED) 44.721
4 6   Felicia Stancil (USA) 45.131
5 21   Lauren Reynolds (AUS) 45.401
6 210   Simone Christensen (DEN) 45.582
7 3   Axelle Étienne (FRA) 45.853
8 155   Drew Mechielsen (CAN) 46.883

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Cycling BMX Racing Competition Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 3 July 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Cycling BMX Racing" (PDF). Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 May 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  3. ^ Dart, Tom (30 July 2021). "Alise Willoughby's hopes for BMX racing gold dashed on crash-filled day". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Cycling BMX Racing". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  5. ^ "BMX medal hopeful Saya Sakakibara crashes out of Olympics in heartbreaking circumstances". 7News. 30 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  6. ^ Liam Nee (26 March 2021). "Cycling 101: Competition format". NBC. Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Start List" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. Omega SA. 25 July 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Results" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. Omega SA. 29 July 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Competition Bracket" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. Omega SA. 29 July 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Results" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. Omega SA. 30 July 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  11. ^ "Start List" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. Omega SA. 30 July 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.
  12. ^ "Results" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. Omega SA. 30 July 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 30 July 2021.