BMX: A day after claiming the elite women’s time trial world title, Aussie BMX star Caroline Buchanan has raced to second place in the main event at the UCI BMX World Championships, won by Colombian Mariana Pajón at the track named after her in Medellín, Colombia.
The world championships have been a key Olympic selection chance for the Aussies and with a time trial world title and a second place to her name, Buchanan is now front and centre for a ticket to the Olympic Games in Rio.
On the other side of the coin it was a tough day for Australia’s other Olympic hopefuls with fellow women’s competitor Lauren Reynolds crashing out in the semi finals, while men Sam Willoughby, Bodi Turner and Anthony Dean missed the cut to qualify for the final.
The only exception to the tough run other than Buchanan was Queenslander Melinda McLeod, the two finding themselves as Australia’s only hopes in the elite finals. McLeod rode to a credible eighth place, while Buchanan edged USA national champion Alise Post on the line as both followed home national hero Pajón.
While it wasn’t the gold medal Buchanan had been gunning for, today’s final may well have been a tantalizing appetizer for what could be on the menu at the Olympics in less than 68 days time, with Buchanan, Post and Pajon now ready to race in Rio.
“That was a big wind up for the final. Alise, Mariana, Stefany [outgoing world champion Stefany Hernandez] and myself were all going bar to bar down the hill from the start gate,” Buchanan said.
“I had an awesome start down the hill, probably my best of the day and then there was a bit of elbowing with Stefany and that put us both back and gave the others the upper hand. I fought back and down the last straight Alise went left; I went right and came through for second.
“I really learned a lot about my competitors strengths and weaknesses today. This track is a lot harder than Rio, we’re at a higher altitude and the track is flat, it has been the biggest challenge before the Olympics.
“Today was really high pressure, good racing and I have had a really consistent day and now that it is all fairly set, I am stoked to be looking to Rio while in really good form.”
Meanwhile London silver medallist Willoughby was a shock exclusion from the final, after producing fast starts and strong results throughout the day. He wasn’t the only big name to miss the final as two-time world and Olympic champion Maris Strombergs of Latvia and former world champion Liam Phillips of Great Britain also missed out.
In the junior elite racing, emerging Aussie talent Jye Hombsch rode to an impressive sixth place, while Australia’s only junior women’s competitor Saya Sakakibara didn’t make the start of her event following a crash during the morning warm up.
However at the end of the day all eyes were on the Australian elite women as Buchanan laid down a result consistent with the strong form she has shown throughout 2016, while McLeod will no doubt give Australian selectors something to think about before the Olympic team is announced.
BMX Australia
