The 2016 Rio Olympics BMX competition began Wednesday, as both men and women had their seeding rounds. On Thursday, the men compete in the quarterfinals.
On Wednesday, the 2016 Rio Olympics cycling events turned to BMX, as 48 cyclists took to the course for their seeding runs. BMX has been an Olympic sport since 2008, when it debuted during the Beijing Olympics. The sport is the newest of all cycling events.
The 16 women competing got the party started, as 2012 gold medalist Mariana Pajon of Columbia had the fastest time. In the men’s competition, 32 cyclists competed for their lane positions on Thursday, where the field will be cut to 16. The field for the quarterfinals will only be 31 cyclists, as Latvia’s Edzus Treimanis did not finish his seeding run.
The fastest time of the seeding run for the men belonged to Joris Daudet, who posted a blistering 34.61s time. Switzerland’s David Graf’s time of 34.67s was second-best, while 2012 London Olympic silver medalist Sam Wiloughby of Australia was third.
In the past, this event has belonged to Latvia’s Maris Strombergs, who has won the gold medal in both Olympics since it became an Olympic event in 2008. Stombergs had the seventh-best run on Wednesday, clocking a time of 34.95s. He will likely be right in the mix for medals on Friday.
All three American BMX cyclists did great on Wednesday, finishing in the top-ten of all competitors. Connor Fields and Corben Sharrah finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively, and Nicholas Long finished ninth.
The quarterfinals will consist of five runs, though two cyclists from each of the four heats will advance automatically to the semifinals after the third run. The semifinals will consist of two heats of eight cyclists, which will then be cut to the final eight for the finals.
The final will be only one run, and the top three times will earn a medal. This could be the year where a new face take the gold medal, or Stombergs could make it a three-peat. Either way, it is certain to be a fun couple of days on the BMX course.
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Details for the Olympics diving competition on Thursday are below:
Date: Thursday, August 18
Start Time: 12:30pm ET
TV Info: NBC (Not live, Coverage starts at 2:00pm ET)
Live Stream: NBC Olympics
The men and women will both be in action on Friday, as the semifinal runs will decide who makes it to the finals.