Park, Women

As a new entry to the Olympic program, there were no former Olympic champions in women’s BMX park freestyle. This left Hannah Roberts of the United States, the reigning Pan American and world champion, as the favorite, having won the latter just over a month prior to the Tokyo Games. She was also the 2017 and 2019 world champion, while the 2018 world champion, Perris Benegas, was also from the United States. Indeed, it was these two who claimed the top spots in the seeding round, with Switzerland’s Nikita Ducarroz, the 2021 world runner-up, placing third.

In the final, it seemed as if Roberts had the gold in the bag after her first run, amassing an impressive 96.10 following a backflip with a tailspin, with no other riders coming close. In the second run, however, Charlotte Worthington of Great Britain, the 2019 and 2021 world bronze medallist, landed the first 360-degree backflip in women’s competitive history to earn her a 97.50 – and the gold medal. A hard landing in Roberts’ second run aggravated a pre-existing injury, and thus she did not attempt to complete it, leaving with her silver. Ducarroz took home the bronze by virtue of her 89.20 in the first run, a mark that Benegas missed with an 88.50 in the second run, ranking her fourth.