In scorching heat at Ariake Urban Sports Park, Martin was on fire, scoring 91.70 on his first run and 90.04 on his second, the only rider to top 90 points in any of their runs.  

Diehm highlighted her podium potential with two consistent runs of 77.40 and 79.00 to qualify fifth, with US World Champion Hannah Roberts topping the women’s qualification with an average of 86.70. 

In the seeding round, riders two run scores are averaged out to determine the ranking for tomorrow’s final, with Martin’s 90.97 average leading ahead of Japan’s Rim Nakamura with 87.67 and Daniel Dhers of Venezuela with 85.10. 

With the sport making its Olympic debut, both riders were ecstatic to perform so well on the Olympic stage ahead of tomorrow’s final. 

“I’m definitely stoked with the outcome and looking to do it tomorrow as well,” Marting said. “It’s amazing to be one of the first athletes to represent freestyle BMX. I've been doing this for 15 years, I’m stoked to see it appear in the Olympics and it’s special to be here.  

“Tomorrow I want to win the first ever gold medal for Freestyle, BMX, it would be the biggest thing ever. I’m super grateful to be here representing Australia, but to win the first ever gold medal would be unspeakable.” 

While he was happy to lay down the two best runs today, the Gold Coast local says he has plenty more in his bag of tricks for the final. 

“I’m happy with today’s performances, but tomorrow is best run counts – with seeding being an average today was just about two clean consistent runs, not trying to overcomplicate with the big tricks - but I've got a few more things that I'll bring out for sure. 

“I work so hard at home to do what I do and I felt good on my bike doing these tricks today. These are you I guess medium size tricks, I definitely have more in the bag so I'm excited to showcase what I can do tomorrow.” 

Diehm was ecstatic to take the field and officially cement herself as Australia’s first BMX Freestyle Olympian, and let out a yell of delight after finishing her final trick on the second run. 

“Oh you should have heard me on the course honestly, I was screaming hugging the girls and yelling ‘We are Olympians!’,” Diehm said. “I honestly can't explain the feeling, I'm so proud and this is something I hold on to forever.  

“Finishing that second run felt so good, I handplanted on the wall and I was confident heading into it, when I landed it I knew I was going to get a higher score than my first run, I was super stoked. 

The world’s biggest stage never looked too big for the Gladstone local, who was at ease throughout the competition, including grooving along to the music in the middle of the arena in the minute leading into her run. 

“This has been the calmness I've ever been in a contest, I’m surprised at how collected I am because this is huge, it’s the Olympics!” 

“I actually forgot what songs I chose to ride to, and when “Let's get it started” by the Black Eyed Peas came on I was just thinking hell yeah this is it, let’s do it. 

“I'm feeling good about tomorrow, after having this seeding run, there won't be as many nerves.. I’ve got some moves from each run that if I can combine tomorrow, hopefully can put together a perfect run. So I'm just I'm gonna go out there, give it my best and you kill it for Australia.” 

The BMX Freestyle finals are Sunday 1 August, with women’s starting 11.10am AEST and men’s at 12.20pm AEST. Each rider will have two runs, with medals decided on the best individual run. Riders will go in reverse order to their seeding, with the top ranked rider going last. 

Dominic Sullivan