Olympics-Cycling-Britain's Worthington wins historic BMX women's freestyle gold (updated)
01/08/2021 03:24
(Adds details)
By Martyn Herman
TOKYO, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Britain's Charlotte Worthington won
the first ever Olympic gold medal in BMX freestyle with a
sensational second run at the Ariake Urban Sports Park on
Sunday.
Worthington crashed in her first run in the final but
produced an incredible range of tricks to top the leaderboard
with a score of 97.50.
American favourite Hannah Roberts, who scored 96.10 in a
superb first run, could not improve in her second run and
settled for silver.
Swiss Nikita Ducarroz took the bronze.
The 25-year-old Worthington, who gave up a career as a chef
to compete in BMX having initially ridden scooters, saved her
best until last to snatch gold.
It looked nailed on for world champion Roberts after she
dazzled the judges with a sizzling first run - celebrating by
hurling her bike across the park.
But each of the nine riders got two 60-second runs with only
the best score counting, so when Worthington crashed attempting
a rare 360 degree backflip she was not out of the running.
Shortly afterwards she produced the ride of her life.
She landed the 360 backflip and then towards the end of her
run she nailed a forward flip - an audacious move that
ultimately edged it her way.
Worthington celebrated wildly with coach Jamie Bestwick, a
BMX freestyle great, as her score appeared.
She still had to wait to see what Roberts could pull out of
the hat, but the 19-year-old American lost momentum early in her
second run and abandoned it - sparking wild celebrations from
the British camp.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
((martyn.herman@thomsonreuters.com; +442075427933; Reuters
Messaging: martyn.herman@thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))