Your Australian preview for BMX Racing at the Olympics

Get set for an explosive two nights of action at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines BMX Stadium in the west of Paris as the best in the world battle it out for gold in BMX Racing.

Australia has genuine medal contenders in both the women’s and men’s events, so set the alarm clock for early in the morning to cheer our riders as they try to be first across the line in this fast and furious sport.

Read on to learn all about BMX Racing at Paris 2024.

Key details

· Date: Friday, August 2 (qualifications) and Saturday, August 3 (Finals)

· Time: 04:00 AEST (men), 04:20 AEST (women)

· Competitors: 24 women, 24 men

· Australians: Saya Sakakibara, Lauren Reynolds, Izaac Kennedy

How it works

BMX Racing at the Olympics will start with three quarterfinal races. Riders are assigned points after each race based on their finishing order: one point for first place, two points for second place, and so on.

After the third run, a rider's points are added together to give a combined score. Riders are then ranked by their combined scores. The fewer points a rider has, the better their ranking.

The 12 top-ranked riders will automatically qualify for the semifinals. But that’s not all: there is a Last Chance Race for the riders who finished in positions 13^th to 20^th. The top four finishers in the Last Chance Race will also advance to the semifinals.

After three semifinal runs, with the same ranking system outlined above, the top eight riders qualify for the final. The final will be a single, winner-takes-all race for the medals.

Women’s contenders

All eyes will be on Australia’s Saya Sakakibara who is one of the top favourites for a medal, if not the win.

While she didn’t have the Games she would have hoped for in Tokyo after crashing out, over the last 12 months the rider from NSW has been at the top of her game. The 24-year-old claimed back-to-back UCI BMX Racing World Cup series wins in 2023 and 2024. And while her UCI BMX World Championships campaign didn’t go according to plan, finishing eighth, she has seen it as just a bump in the road on her path to Paris.

One of her biggest rivals will be Alise Willoughby (USA) who will be racing her fourth Olympics, and is coming into these Games full of confidence after winning her third world title.

Watch out too for two-time Olympic gold medallist Mariana Pajón from Colombia, and defending champion Bethany Shriever (GBR). Fellow Australian Lauren Reynolds will be lining up for her fourth Olympics, and the consistent rider will no doubt be hungry to better her previous Olympics-best result of fifth in Tokyo.

Men’s contenders

Izaac Kennedy was in red-hot form earlier in the year, winning the 2024 UCI BMX Racing World Cup series. He was one of the favourites leading into the World Championships two months ago before he crashed in training and broke his wrist. He only spent four weeks off the bike after surgery and is confident, despite the injury, that he has done the work to be at the pointy end in Paris.

The other big favourites for the men’s event will be Frenchmen Joris Daudet and Romain Mahieu, the current and former world champions respectively.

What they said

Saya Sakakibara

“There is definitely confidence. When I think how different the Olympics is and my experience previously, and everything was so bizarre, everything was so overwhelming. I bring that experience into this one and sometimes I think, ‘Oh no, I’m not ready for this.’ But then I think about how I’m racing the same people, I’ve ridden this track before, and at the end of the day it’s a gate, I do a start, I pedal hard, go as fast as I can around the track and hopefully win, and I’ve done that many times over the past 12 months. I think it does add up to that confidence and maybe evidence is a better word … I have evidence that I can do this, and I have done this, and I can trust myself in those high-pressure moments.

“I do feel a little bit of responsibility to go out there and do my best and not waste this opportunity, but it makes me really excited a lot of people are watching me, a lot of people have eyes on the sport of BMX.”

Izaac Kennedy

“At the end of the day it’s going to be the same guys I’m racing against all the time, and we’re going to be doing the same thing. I’m not worried about anyone else, I’m not worried about the occasion. I’m just worried about myself and going out to do my job and letting all my work show for itself.

“I’ve been putting in a lot of work and training really hard, and I feel good. So, it’s just all about going out and performing and doing my best, and I think my best will take care of itself.”

How to watch

You’ll be able to watch the Olympic Games time trial live and free on the Nine Network.

Quarterfinals start early on Friday, while semi-finals and finals start early on Saturday morning.