Tokyo Olympics: GB BMX riders ride to victory

Tokyo Olympics: GB BMX riders ride to victory

Bethany Shriever won gold and Kye Whyte won a great silver as Team GB stole the show at the Olympics as BMX racing medallists on day 7. Two days later, in the early hours of day 9, Charlotte Worthington won gold and Declan Brooks collected a bronze in the inaugural BMX freestyle events. 

History was made when Kye Whyte won a fantastic silver, finishing just 0.114 behind the Olympic champion dutch rider Niek Kimmann. Having cruised through the stages before the final, the 21 year old from Peckham was the first on his pedals on the 8m start ramp. He was a confident figure, despite the ramp being not for the faint-hearted. Whyte showed great technique on all the bends in the course. Having closed the gap between him and Kimmann considerably, he narrowly missed out on gold in his first Olympics. Yet this didn’t matter, with Whyte and his team celebrating joyously. It was Great Britain’s first ever BMX brilliance. It was clear it meant everything to the rider, with ecstatic celebrations within the team GB BMX camp. 

After the men’s final excitement, Bethany Shriever took to the stage in the Women’s final. Unlike Kye Whyte, she wasn’t funded to reach the Olympics so the 22 year old crowd funded herself alongside work as a teaching assistant to reach Tokyo. Similarly to the other GB BMX racer, she eased herself through the beginning stages and then through to the semi-final where she secured her place in the final. With a good start, she always looked good throughout the race. She was always pedalling furiously and took the bumps tremendously well. She sustained a great lead and held on despite Mariana Pajon, 2 time Gold medalist, hot on her tail. Kye Whyte watching from the sidelines, leaped over the fence to lift Shriever off her feet. Because of this gold medal, Team GB, over the history of the Olympics, have now won gold in every variation of biking in the world renowned competition. She was clearly over the moon with the result.

And the BMX medal rush didn’t stop there as two days later Charlotte Worthington competed in the female BMX freestyle and Declan Brooks took part in the male equivalent.

It didn’t start off well for Worthington as she fell off her bike attempting a difficult trick. Luckily, she was unhurt and could carry on in the competition. Hannah Roberts, an american and her biggest competitor, put in her impressive first ride, so in her second ride the GB rider would have to put in an amazing ride. And she did just that. With 360’s and flips, she recorded a mammoth score of 97.5. This meant the pressure was on the american Roberts, and it got to her, as she failed to complete her second trick, handing the gold to an elated Charlotte Worthington.

Declan Brooks also will come home with a medal, this time bronze. Using wheel turns and front flips to his advantage, he had some slight pressure after the success of Worthington but he pulled out a great set of skills and tricks. 6 other riders went after him, and only one, Daniel Dhers of Venezuela, surpassed his score of 90.8, but he got bronze as Martin Logan of Australia ended with 93.3 after a good first ride.

Congratulation to BMX riders Kye Whyte, Bethany Shriever, Charlotte Worthington and Declan Brooks!

We hope you enjoyed the article ‘Tokyo Olympics: GB BMX riders ride to victory.’ What was your favourite moment from the BMX racing at the Tokyo Olympics? Let us know!

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