Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's BMX

Women's BMX
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
VenueLaoshan BMX Field
DateAugust 20, 2008 (seeding)
August 22, 2008 (semifinals and final)
Competitors16 from 13 nations
Winning time35.976
Medalists
 
 
 
Cycling at the
2008 Summer Olympics
Road cycling
Road race   men   women
Time trial men women
Track cycling
Individual pursuit men women
Team pursuit men
Sprint men women
Team sprint men
Points race men women
Keirin men
Madison men
Mountain biking
Cross-country men women
BMX
BMX men women

The women's BMX cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on August 20–22 at the Laoshan BMX Field, the first to be officially featured in the Olympic cycling program.

Coming out of retirement from her sporting career to try out for BMX at age thirty, France's Anne-Caroline Chausson escaped from an early race crash that left two riders off the ramp to claim the event's inaugural Olympic gold medal. She thundered home on the final stretch to a spectacular finish with a fastest time in 35.976.[1][2] Chausson also enjoyed her teammate Laëtitia Le Corguillé taking home the silver in 38.042, as she finished the race behind the leader by nearly seven hundredths of a second (0.07) and also, handed the French squad a straight 1–2 finish on the medal podium.[3] Meanwhile, United States' Jill Kintner came up with a powerful, stalwart ride to earn the bronze in 38.674, edging out New Zealand's Sarah Walker by a short sprint distance.[4][5]

Qualification

Sixteen riders representing twelve countries qualified for the event. Qualification was based on UCI ranking by nations, 2008 UCI BMX World Championships results and wild-cards reserved to a Tripartite Commission (IOC, ANOC, UCI).[6]

Competition format

Each of the 16 women competing performed two runs of the course in individual time trials to determine seeding for the knockout rounds. Then, they were grouped into 2 semifinal groups based on that seeding. Each semifinal consisted of three runs of the course, using a point-for-place system. The top four cyclists in each semifinal (for a total of 8) moved on to the final. Unlike the semifinals, the final consisted of a single race with the first to the finish line claiming the gold medal.[7]

Schedule

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)[8]

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 20 August 2008 09:45 Seeding
Friday, 20 August 2008 09:00 Semifinals and final

Results

Seeding

Rank Name Time Notes
1  Anne-Caroline Chausson (FRA) 36.660
2  Shanaze Reade (GBR) 36.882
3  Laëtitia Le Corguillé (FRA) 37.145
4  Sarah Walker (NZL) 37.187
5  Gabriela Díaz (ARG) 37.590
6  Nicole Callisto (AUS) 37.717
7  Jill Kintner (USA) 37.913
8  Jana Horáková (CZE) 38.077
9  Jenny Fähndrich (SUI) 38.209
10  Tanya Bailey (AUS) 38.285
11  Lieke Klaus (NED) 38.709
12  Amanda Sørensen (DEN) 38.719
13  Samantha Cools (CAN) 39.137
14  María Belén Dutto (ARG) 40.193
15  Anikó Hódi (HUN) 41.772
16  Ma Liyun (CHN) 42.015

Semifinals

Heat 1

Rank Name 1st run 2nd run 3rd run Total Notes
1  Anne-Caroline Chausson (FRA) 36.931 (1) 37.028 (1) 36.747 (2) 4 Q
2  Sarah Walker (NZL) 37.499 (2) 39.038 (3) 36.731 (1) 6 Q
3  Gabriela Díaz (ARG) 37.605 (3) 38.235 (2) DNF (8) 13 Q
4  Samantha Cools (CAN) 39.765 (6) 39.457 (5) 38.690 (3) 14 Q
5  Jana Horáková (CZE) 39.107 (5) 39.457 (4) 1:32.284 (7) 16
6  Jenny Fähndrich (SUI) 38.658 (4) 45.912 (7) 52.687 (6) 17
7  Ma Liyun (CHN) 41.789 (7) 41.497 (6) 41.839 (5) 18
8  Amanda Sørensen (DEN) DNF (8) 47.469 (8) 39.474 (4) 20

Heat 2

Rank Name 1st run 2nd run 3rd run Total Notes
1  Laëtitia Le Corguillé (FRA) 37.917 (1) 37.130 (1) 37.076 (2) 4 Q
2  Jill Kintner (USA) 38.950 (3) 39.700 (3) 38.235 (3) 9 Q
3  Shanaze Reade (GBR) 2:17.714 (7) 39.218 (2) 36.699 (1) 10 Q
4  Nicole Callisto (AUS) 38.244 (2) 47.311 (6) 38.435 (4) 12 Q
5  Lieke Klaus (NED) 40.955 (4) 40.143 (4) 38.800 (5) 13
6  Anikó Hódi (HUN) 44.021 (6) 41.867 (5) 40.169 (7) 18
7  María Belén Dutto (ARG) 41.307 (5) 47.927 (7) 40.295 (8) 20
8  Tanya Bailey (AUS) DNF (8) DNF (8) 39.505 (6) 22

Final

Rank Name Time Notes
1st  Anne-Caroline Chausson (FRA) 35.976
2nd  Laëtitia Le Corguillé (FRA) 38.042
3rd  Jill Kintner (USA) 38.674
4  Sarah Walker (NZL) 38.805
5  Gabriela Díaz (ARG) 39.747
6  Nicole Callisto (AUS) 1:19.609
7  Samantha Cools (CAN) DNF
8  Shanaze Reade (GBR) DNF

References

  1. ↑ "Chausson of France wins first BMX gold at Olympics". Xinhua News Agency. 22 August 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  2. ↑ Thomazeau, Francois (22 August 2008). "Chausson wins BMX laurels 21 years apart". Reuters. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  3. ↑ "France takes gold and silver in women's BMX cycling". France 24. 22 August 2008. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  4. ↑ Bishop, Greg (23 August 2008). "Ailing but Elated, U.S. Team Wins 3 Medals in Debut of BMX". New York Times. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  5. ↑ Johnson, Tim (23 August 2008). "Kintner earns BMX bronze". Seattle Times. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  6. ↑ http://uci.ch/includes/asp/getTarget.asp?type=FILE&id=MzU5MTI
  7. ↑ "BMX Competition Format". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  8. ↑ "BMX: Results and Schedules". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Retrieved 20 October 2013.