Whips and flips at BMX freestyle

TOKYO • Do not expect three-time world champion Hannah Roberts to play it safe in her pursuit of a gold medal when BMX freestyle makes its Olympic debut on Saturday.

The 19-year-old American trailblazer has been pushing the envelope since she first climbed on a BMX when she was eight.

Roberts was the first woman to land a 360 tail-whip - a complex airborne stunt in which only the rider's hands stay in contact with the bike as it rotates beneath them.

After winning her third world title in Montpellier earlier this year to confirm her tag as the favourite for the Tokyo Games, she revealed that she was cooking up something new for her tilt at Olympic gold.

"I have a few big flip whips and a front flip I want to do at the Olympics if I can figure out where to do them," she told Forbes magazine.

Roberts is bidding to become the youngest American medallist in cycling since 1912 and the first female teenager to win an Olympic title in one of the sport's events.

The International Olympic Committee added BMX freestyle to the cycling programme to attract a younger demographic drawn towards extreme sports, joining its just-as-adventurous cousin, BMX racing, which debuted at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Freestyle is limited only by a rider's imagination, with competitors given 60 seconds to create gravity-defying flips and spins over a range of obstacles including spines, walls and ramps.

Points are awarded on criteria such as difficulty, originality, execution, height and creativity of the tricks.

"You're going to need that 'wow' factor," Britain's Charlotte Worthington, who took the bronze medal in Montpellier, said of what it would take to make the freestyle podium in Tokyo.

Nine male and nine female riders will compete at the Ariake Urban Sports Park, which is also hosting the skateboarding events.

"It's definitely a risk-reward game but someone is going to pull off a big trick," added the 25-year-old Worthington, who took up BMX riding only five years ago, having learnt her tricks on a scooter.

Colombia's Mariana Pajon will be seeking a third straight Olympic gold in BMX racing, which is an adrenaline-fuelled blast down a ramp and then around a course full of jumps, with the winner the first rider to cross the line.

American Connor Fields will also be trying to retain his gold medal, while in the men's freestyle competition, two-time X Games champion Logan Martin will be the one to watch after taking gold in the world championships.

The Australian has left no stone unturned in his bid for an Olympic medal, building his own BMX park in his backyard.

The men and women's quarter-finals start today, and the finals take place tomorrow.

REUTERS