MONTIGNY-LE-BRETONNEUX, France (AP) — Joris Daudet led a French sweep of the Olympic podium in BMX racing on Friday night, getting chased across the finish line by Sylvain Andre and Romain Mahieu to complete a dominant two-day performance just outside of Paris.
Daudet, the three-time and reigning world champion, won two of his three semifinals before getting the jump in the finals. He led his two compatriots through the first corner on the tightly twisting course and never allowed anyone to pressure him.
The only rider who had a shot at breaking up the French grasp of the podium was Cedric Butti of Switzerland, but he was held off by Mahieu at the finish line. The three riders from the home nation then ran back onto the track together, where Andre chucked his bike in celebration and all three of them threw their arms up in victory.
Cameron Wood finished fifth for the U.S. in his Olympic debut.
France has been the most successful nation in BMX racing, topping the U.S. for the most gold and total medals at the world championships. But that success has rarely translated to the Olympics. Its only medal had been the silver that Laetitia Le Corguille won at the 2008 Beijing Games, when the sport made its Olympic debut.
But hopes were high after the trio of French riders dominated their heat races on Friday night.
Andre, who was fourth at the Tokyo Games, won two of his heats and finish second in the other. Daudet and Mahieu, who won worlds the previous year, also won a pair of heats and finished third in their other. And together, the trio topped the 16 riders who advanced to the semifinal rounds.
Of course, the Americans were right behind them.
Kamren Larsen finished in the top three of each of his heats, and Wood won a heat and finished second in another, and hopes were high that they might follow in the footsteps of Connor Fields, who won gold at the 2016 Rio Games.
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Yet while the French dominated their semifinals, the Americans had trouble. Larsen crashed out of his second race, essentially eliminating him from contention, and Wood needed a second-place finish in his third semi to make the medal run.
Kye Whyte was hoping to improve on his silver medal from Tokyo, but the Briton crashed heavily during his second semifinal race. The accident occurred just after riders came down the starting ramp, which means he would have been going about 56 kph (35 mph) when he hit the dirt. Whyte was able to move as he was loaded on a stretcher and taken away.
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