BMX racers Alise Willoughby from the United States and Joris Daudet from France have a lot in common. They are both three-time world champions and have been at the top of their sport for years, despite BMX being a sport that doesn’t often reward long careers. They are still striving for Olympic gold after many years of challenges.
On Thursday night, both Willoughby and Daudet put themselves in a good position to achieve their goal at the Paris Olympics. They both advanced smoothly through their initial heats and into the semifinals, winning their first two races with ease.
This set them up well for the semifinals on Friday night, where they will compete for a place in the final medal race.
“There’s definitely room for improvement,” said Willoughby, who was also joined in the semifinals by her teammate Daleny Vaughn. “But yeah, it was a lot of fun out there. I love riding at night under the lights. It’s a great atmosphere. So yeah, going well.”
Willoughby, coached by her husband and former Olympic medalist Sam, has been consistently strong in international competitions but has faced difficulties at the Olympics.
She crashed out of the semifinals at the London and Tokyo Games, with her only Olympic medal being a silver from Rio in 2016.
Willoughby wasn’t the only one to win all her heats. Saya Sakakibara, the top-ranked rider in the world, also won all her races, and Bethany Schriever from Britain did the same as she tries to defend her gold medal from Tokyo.
“My practice wasn’t very good,” Sakakibara said. “Once I got on top of the hill, I felt the atmosphere. Everyone was cheering. I could feel the energy. I felt the pressure. And I’m like, ‘This is where I thrive.’”
The biggest surprise of the night might have been Mariana Pajon, who has won two gold medals and is the current silver medalist. She had a tough time in her early heats and had to race in the last-chance qualifier. She won that race just as thunder and lightning started to light up the sky.
Joris Daudet has faced more challenges than Alise Willoughby in the top BMX competitions. Even though he has 12 medals, including three golds, from world championships, he has never been close to winning an Olympic medal in the finals.
Daudet was joined by Romain Mahieu and Sylvain Andre, and France took the top three spots in the men’s heats. Kamren Larsen and Cameron Wood from the U.S. were next, setting up a match between the top BMX nations.
“You have to be in the race to compete for a medal,” Larsen said. “If you’re not there, you can’t fight for it.”
This was true for Niek Kimmann, the current Olympic gold medalist from the Netherlands, who had to withdraw from the Paris Games earlier this year due to an inflamed heart muscle.
This disappointing news came after Kimmann won a silver medal behind Daudet at the world championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
The BMX racing format was changed after the Tokyo Games. In Tokyo, there were four sets of heats with four riders each, and the top 16 moved on to two semifinals. The top eight from those semifinals raced for medals.
For the Paris Games, the format was different. Eight riders were placed in three heats, and they earned points based on their finishes in each of the three runs. The top 12 riders moved on to the semifinals, while the next eight went to the last-chance qualifier.
In a sport known for its wild and chaotic nature, the only significant crash on Friday night involved Colombia’s Carlos Alberto Ramirez in the last-chance race. He was carried off the track on a stretcher but managed to smile and give a thumbs-up.
Compared to the Tokyo Games, where American rider Connor Fields had a severe crash and spent several days in the hospital, only a few riders fell during this event. Besides Ramirez, everyone else was able to walk away.
The races were still exciting, with some finishes decided by bike throws, and the lively atmosphere near the National Velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines contrasted with the quieter Tokyo Games due to the pandemic.
“Obviously with Alise and Connor from the past bringing home medals, there is extra pressure, especially being from the U.S.,” said Larsen, the reigning Pan American Games gold medalist. “Myself and the other Cameron are just doing our best to qualify for tomorrow. Step one of the plan is done.”
