Olympics Cycling BMX live stream: Watch online – August 19th
By Brad Weiss
The 2016 Rio Olympics BMX competition will end on Friday, as the racers will compete in their semifinal and final runs.
The Olympics cycling competition will have its semifinal and final runs on Friday, as both the men and women take to the course in search of their medals. The biggest names on the men’s side have been eliminated, paving the way for a new champion. The women had Thursday off, as the men had their quarterfinal runs, so they should be ready to go.
BMX is the newest sport for cycling in the Olympics, having made its debut at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Though the newest, BMX is arguably the most exciting, bringing speed and crashes to the course on every run.
The women will get the action started with their semifinal runs, as the 16 cyclists will be divided into two heats of 8. During the seeding run, Columbia’s Mariana Pajon had the fastest time, clocking a 34.50 second run. Pajon is the reigning gold medal winner in this event, taking the top spot during the 2012 London Olympics. Silver medal winner from 2012, Sarah Walker of New Zealand, is not in the field.
The semifinals will reveal the final eight cyclists, who will then battle for the three available medals. The odds are Pajon wins, but 2012 bronze medal winner Laura Smulders is in the field, and she had the third-fastest time in the preliminary round.
Maris Strombergs has dominated this event since its inception, winning the gold medal in both 2008 and 2012. However, he crashed during the quarterfinal run on Thursday, and has been eliminated from competition. France’s Joris Daudet was supposed to challenge Strombergs for the top spot in Rio, but he also failed to qualify due to a crash.
In London, Sam Wiloughby of Australia won the silver medal, and he appears poised to take the gold in 2016. He and 2012 bronze medal winner both qualified for the semis on Thursday, and could finish 1-2 in this event barring any crashes.
All three Americans in the field qualified on Thursday, as Nicholas Long, Connor Fields, and Corben Sharrah will all compete in the semis on Friday.
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Details for the Olympics cycling BMX competition on Friday are below:
Date: Friday, August 19
Start Time: 12:30 p.m. ET
TV Info: NBC (live coverage of the finals starts at 2:00 p.m. ET)
Live Stream: NBC Olympics
The final cycling events of the Olympics will take place on Saturday and Sunday, as the women and men have their cross country events, respectively.