Tokyo Olympics: Beth Shriever wins women’s gold and Kye Whyte secures men’s silver in BMX racing

Great Britain’s Beth Shriever has won BMX racing Olympic gold in the women’s BMX racing at the Tokyo Olympics.

Shriever’s win happened just minutes after team-mate Kye Whyte secured silver in the men’s event.

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At a glance: 5 key points

- Shriever had looked the class of the field in qualifying and delivered in the final

- The 22-year-old led from the first bend, holding off a late charge from defending champion Mariana Pajon of Colombia down the final straight

- Whyte 21-year-old Londoner, having been hampered by poor starts in qualifying, made it into the first corner of the final in second place and held his position as Niek Kimmann took gold for Holland

- The two crossed the line with a healthy margin after a late crash for Frenchman Romain Mahieu split the field, with Colombian Carlos Ramirez Yepes taking bronze

- Whyte had shown in qualifying he had the speed to contend if only he could get off the line, needing to recover from poor starts in the first two runs but then winning the final one to be sure of his place in the final

What’s been said

“I’m just in bits,” the Londoner said.

“I tried my hardest out there today and to be rewarded with a gold medal is honestly mind-blowing. I kept my cool today, kept it simple, and it worked. I’m over the moon. I’ve done my family and my boyfriend back home proud.

“I don’t think it’s registering right now what’s just happened.”

Background

Defending champion Connor Field of the United States was unable to contest the final after crashing heavily in the last run of his semi-final, leaving the track on a stretcher.

As of Friday 30 July at 8am, Great Britain sits in sixth place in the medal leaderboard – with six gold, nine silver and nine bronze.