BMX, Women

In the women’s BMX race, all eyes were on Colombia’s Mariana Pajón, who had won Olympic gold in 2012 and 2016 and was looking to capture three in a row; she was also the reigning Pan American champion. The reigning world champion was Alise Willoughby of the United States, who had won in 2017 and 2019 (the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and was also the reigning Olympic silver medallist. The Netherlands’ Laura Smulders, the 2018 world champion and 2019 runner-up, was also considered a contender.

Willoughby, Smulders, and Pajón all won their quarterfinal heats, alongside Briton Beth Shriever, the 2016 European runner-up and the 2017 junior world champion. The semifinals were more dramatic, with both Willoughby and Smulders crashing in the first races and performing poorly thereafter, thus failing to advance to the finals. Shriver, meanwhile, won her heat, while American Felicia Stancil, the 2015 Pan American champion captured the other, with Pajón finishing behind her. In an intense final, Shriever managed to just edge out Pajón for gold, leaving the Colombian to settle for silver and without a threepeat as an Olympic champion. Merel Smulders, sister to Laura and the 2018 world runner-up, was the unexpected bronze medallist, matching Laura’s placement at the 2012 London Games.