Perris Benegas from the United States won the silver medal in BMX Freestyle cycling at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, an event dominated by China’s Deng Yawen, while Natalya Diehm from Australia won the bronze medal.
For the Americas, in addition to the podium, the most outstanding performances were those of Colombia’s Queen Villegas and Chile’s Macarena Pérez, who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the women’s final.
The gold of China’s Yawen is a triumph that also had a Latin flavor, as the Venezuelan Daniel Dhers, Olympic runner-up in Tokyo 2020, also serves as coach of the Asian country.
It was a final where the American Hannah Roberts, five-time world champion, silver medalist in Tokyo 2020 and who now had to settle for the eighth place in Paris 2024, failed.
For a few minutes, Villegas made Colombia dream of the first medal for the Colombian sport in Paris 2024. After a discreet first run, the bugueña went all out in the second and obtained a score of 88.00 that placed her third provisionally.
Villegas, the first Colombian Olympic rider in BMX Freestyle, had already warned in advance that the two months of training in London had paid off. And that she had more to give in the final.
Queen went to Paris 2024 for herself and her sister Liz, who was prevented by two serious injuries from fighting for a place at the Olympic Games. And she more than delivered, even if she did not make the podium in the end: on her second attempt, American Perris Benegas scored an 88.80 that left Villegas just 0.80 points short of the bronze.
Also outstanding was the performance of Macarena Perez, the last runner to earn a quota for Paris 2024. The Chilean secured a spot after a waiver from Switzerland and made the most of the opportunity. Not only did she repeat her Olympic final, but she improved on her Tokyo 2020 performance to finish fifth.