Olympic Games: BMX, the Olympic curse

Special envoy to Tokyo

To discover

• The full Olympic program

• The Olympic medal table

Group shot.

In the shadow of the podium.

They were three out of seven in the men's final.

The Blues in a strong position.

Sylvain André (4th), Romain Mahieu (6th) and Joris Daudet (7th) watched the race from behind.

Quickly overwhelmed.

And deprived of a podium when Joris Daudet fell in the last few meters… Axelle Etienne (7th) also quickly let hope for a medal slip away.

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Zero out of four.

Violent.

BMX, on the Olympic program since 2008, still arrives on the Olympic stage swollen with ambition and titles but only the 2008 edition (Anne-Caroline Chausson in gold, Laëtitia Le Corguillé in silver) crowned it.

BMX, by its format (semi-finals in three rounds, final on a dry round) leaves little respite and its scenario can turn out to be uncontrollable.

From the vertiginous ramp to the finish line, 40 seconds in apnea, shake the pilots on double or triple bumps, throw them on in banked turns.

The falls are numerous, the shocks violent.

To read also: JO: "No thanks to some French clubs", Gignac tackles (again) those who have not played the game

And on arrival, in Tokyo, France made up the clan of the unfortunate.

The men's title went to Dutchman Niek Kimmann (ahead of Briton Kye White and Colombian Carlos Alberto Ramirez Yepes), the women's gold medal to Briton Bethany Shriver (ahead of Colombian Mariana Pajon and Dutchman Merel Smulders).

David Lappartient, the president of the International Cycling Union who perhaps dreamed of a scenario with three French people on the podium (like ski-cross at the Winter Olympics in 2014) will not have seen the slightest jersey presented. blue White Red.

you have to be there for 40 seconds, otherwise it's goodbye and we go home

Sylvain André

“It's an individual sport. We are a team, we are great friends but once on the grid, it's every man for himself. We're not going to knock the other down, but if we have to pass our colleague, we'll do it. On a daily basis, we train together but there are no team tactics. We don't have a lane in athletics where everyone does their thing. We are not alone on the grid. There were three of us, it made a lot of chances for medals but it's still super random, there are things we can't control. Sometimes that makes the beauty of sport, today it's a bit sad because there is no medal… ”

, slips Romain Mathieu.

“It's sport… that's how it is. With us, it is difficult, there are seven of us, there are no corridors, even if we do everything correctly, there are divine interventions happening. It's part of the sport, that's what makes it exciting, we only have one event and there you have to be there for 40 seconds, otherwise it's goodbye and we go home ”

, summarizes Sylvain André. (4th).

Axelle Etienne assures us:

“I didn't miss out on the final, I took risks, it didn't pay off.

I regret nothing.

It is played on details, it did not happen in the first corner… If I could have taken 2nd place, it would have been easier… I gave everything, it did not happen but it will be fine. serve as experience.

It's a shame not to bring home a medal but it's the Games, a very tough competition.

It's racing… It's BMX.

"

Read also: The medal table

Joris Daudet, perhaps the most unfortunate of the day, ideally placed for the bronze medal, he who had already experienced the Olympic failure in 2012 and 2016 fell, without fully understanding what had happened to him, was trying to put into perspective:

“I didn't feel anything coming and I slipped suddenly. Difficult to explain. I was in a good position unfortunately, a mistake, a fall and it was all over. It’s difficult… It’s like that. We get closer, we get closer but it's still not there. So disappointment. We have a good group, a lot of potential but everyone is in good shape, it's the Games. It's easy to say that we are favorites, but in the end, there isn't really a favorite. It's always the same, the same stories. We are disappointed but we will get over it.

» Romain Mathieu wanted to bounce back quickly:

" I have learned. I have just discovered the Olympic Games, I am classified in the final. There is no medal but there is positive. I learned a lot this week, we are going to look at 2024. I have always been told that it was a different race, there is a pressure that I could feel. You have to be familiar with this Olympic atmosphere, I can't wait to be in three years… ”