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All U.S. BMX Riders Through to Semifinals |
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Written by SuperHuman
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Wednesday, 20 August 2008 |
\All three members of the U.S. team for BMX cycling have
advanced to the semifinal round, which will begin at 9 a.m.
Thursday, August 21, at the BMX Venue.
Beijing, China (U.S. Olympic Committee) -- 08/20/2008
All Three U.S. Team BMX Riders Through To Semifinals.
Mike Day (Santa Clarita, Calif.) finished first in his heat with
three points by placing first in each of his three runs, while
Donny Robinson (Napa, Calif.) was third in the same heat
with 11 points (4th, 3rd, 2nd). Kyle Bennett (Conroe,Texas)
was fourth in his heat with 14 points (2nd, 4th, DNF).
Jill Kinter (Seattle, Wash.) had a best time of 37.913 and was
seventh in the seeding phase, automatically advancing to
Thursday's semifinals.
CC - U.S. Olympic Committee, Craig Bohnert.
U.S. Advances All Three Men To Semifinals Of Men's BMX
Bicycle Motocross (BMX) made its Olympic debut Wednesday as
American athletes illustrated their might by advancing all three
men’s competitors to Thursday’s semifinal heats.
Kyle Bennett (Conroe, Texas), Mike Day (Santa Clarita, Calif.)
and Donny Robinson (Napa, Calif.) all qualified for the round of
16. By doing so, the United States is the only country that
advanced three competitors to the semifinals.
Competing in the same eight-man bracket, Day and Robinson
placed first and third respectively after three quarterfinal heats
to claim a spot in the semifinals. Day’s win was triggered by a
dominating performance that saw him win all three heats, clearly
marking him as one of the favorites heading into Thursday. After
a rough start, Robinson recovered from a crash-induced sixth-place
finish in heat one to place second and third in the next two heats.
In the second bracket, Bennett looked solid in his first two heats,
placing second and fourth, but came dangerously close to elimination
after crashing in his third heat. While exiting turn one, Bennett went
down after failing to avoid a pair of riders that crashed in front of him.
The result was a dislocated left shoulder, which was immediately
treated by team doctors on course. And even though he eventually
re-mounted his bike and rolled across the finish line, he was credited
with a DNF – did not finish – and given the maximum of eight points.
Still, his point total was low enough to advance him to the semifinals
and is expected to compete on Thursday.
For Day, his dominant performance began in the individual time
trial round, used to seed the 32 entrants into four different eight
-man brackets. His time of 35.692 seconds in his second of two
attempts was the field’s fastest of the day. Latvian Maris Stombergs
clocked a 35.910 as the only other rider to post a time under 36
seconds.
Bennett earned the 12th seed in qualifying with a 36.421,
while Robinson rode a 36.810 to grab the 24th seed.
In Thursday’s semifinals, all three Americans will be matched
against each other in the same bracket as Bennett, Day and
Robinson join Marc Willers (NZL), Sifiso Nhlapo (RSA), Andres
Jimenez (COL), Raymon van der Biezen (NED) and Arturs
Matisons (LAT) in the first bracket.
Strombergs, Jared Graves (AUS), Cristian Becerine (ARG),
Roger Rinderknecht (SUI), Rob van den Wildenberg (NED),
Manueal de Vecchi (ITA), Damien Godet (FRA), Kamakazi
(AUS) comprise the second bracket.
As in Wednesday’s quarterfinal, each bracket will run three heats
with the lowest-four point getters from each bracket advancing
to the finals.
In women’s racing, American Jill Kintner (Seattle, Wash.)
rode a 37.913 to claim the seventh seed.
After the 16-woman field was divided into a pair of eight-woman
brackets for Thursday’s semifinals, Kintner will face Shanaze Reade
(GBR), Laetitia le Corguille (FRA), Nicole Callisto (AUS), Tanya Bailey
(AUS), Lieke Klaus (NED), Maria Belen Dutto (ARG) and Aniko Hodi
(HUN) in the first bracket.
Anne-Caroline Chausson (FRA), Sarah Walker (NZL), Gabriela Diaz
(ARG), Jana Horakova (CZE), Jenny Fahndrich (SUI), Amanda
Sorensen (DEN), Sammy Cools (CAN) and Liyun Ma (CHN) make
up the second bracket.
CC - U.S. Olympic Committee, Andy Lee.
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