He is still in disbelief. Without bombastic gesticulations José “Maligno” Torres Gil still can’t believe he won the gold medal in BMX freestyle cycling at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Wednesday, July 31.
The Argentinean not only won the first gold medal for his nation in the his nation in the French capital, but it meant the first gold of any Latin American athlete in what had been disputed in Paris 2024.
“I am Olympic champion. To tell you the truth, I can’t believe it. No
I don’t understand anything. I have to be very frank with you, I don’t understand what is happening,” Torres told Olympics.com.
“The moment the national anthem came out and when I saw the flag I collapsed but I held on as long as I could because I don’t like to show too much what I feel. I am happy. A gold medal for Argentina. We didn’t have any medal yet and the truth is that being able to give this to the Argentines and Latinos is the most gratifying thing I have today”, she added.
Thanks to a near-perfect score of 94.82 in the first run, Torres topped the classification of the men’s BMX freestyle cycling final at Place de la Concorde and took the gold medal that was in the plans of very few.
While a qualification for the final was to be expected, he was not among the top favorites to become the Paris 2024 Olympic champion.
“I think of all my family. They are very important, sacred pillars, all my friends and of course my team. The team that trusted me from day one,” said the “Maligno”.
The 29-year-old Argentinean surpassed Britain’s Kieran Reilly (93.91) and France’s Anthony Jean-Jean, with 93.76, who completed the podium with the bronze. The rider from Córdoba, born in Bolivia, wins the first medal for Argentina in Paris 2024, in just his Olympic debut.
The closest gold medal for Argentina is Rio 2016, with three gold medals (judo, sailing and men’s field hockey).