BMX-Freestyle: Lots of hype - and still an outstanding result in the end
Created: 08/14/2022 13:31
By: Thomas Jensen
Didn't even think about the podium: Kim Lea Müller, here doing a backflip over the Olympiaberg.
© dpa/warmuth
While Kim Lea Müller won silver in the women's BMX Freestyle, Lara Lessmann only got metal.
The national coach has an explanation.
Munich – Kim Lea Müller was already laughing when the silver medal was still far away.
The German had just completed her second run in the BMX Freestyle finals without falling.
Grinning, she waited for the score with the watching crowd on the Olympiaberg.
When the 78.60 points (out of a possible 99.99) were finally announced, she rolled out of the park landscape, still beaming.
"I was just happy that I got my run the way I wanted it," said the 20-year-old later.
However, many of the other seven women in the final on Friday did not succeed.
The sport's first Olympic champion, Charlotte Worthington of Great Britain, fell in both heats, as did defending champion Nikita Ducarroz of Switzerland.
She later surmised: “The level was just really high, so everyone wanted to show their best tricks.
Then the risk is also high.”
The German Lara Lessmann had also announced in advance that she wanted to go "all in".
The 22-year-old finished third in qualifying the day before and was considered one of the favourites, not least because she had already won silver at the European Championships twice.
She scored 75.30 points in the better of her two runs and finished fourth, a disappointment.
National coach Tobias Wicke had an explanation ready: "She was hyped in advance and rightly so, because she is one of the best in the world.
But because of that and also because of the audience you just want to deliver to, the pressure was enormous.”
Wicke paused briefly during his explanations and said he was "still speechless".
However, he was not referring to Lessman, but to Müller's silver medal.
The trainer was probably one of the few who didn't surprise the woman from Oldenburg.
"I know what she can do, but a lot of people don't know that.
That's why nobody expected her today."
The most surprising element was probably her "backflip", i.e. backwards somersault, which she had not done on the qualifying day.
A long "Oh" escaped from the throats of the assembled audience after the first time.
But despite the strong performance, Müller later remarked that things would probably have turned out differently if the favorites hadn't blundered.
But it is also true that Müller has already shown what she can do in Munich.
At the Munich Mash a few weeks ago, she won the title of "Best trick".
Since then, she has expanded her skills: "I've already practiced a few tricks especially for here." Despite the special preparation, she didn't think about the podium.
"The goal wasn't to get the top three, it was just to have fun," she said, noting, "It's still cool, of course." Grinning, of course.
The Czech Iveta Miculycova (16), who won with 80.00 points, and the French Laury Perez (18), who finished third behind Müller with 78.20 points, also had every reason to smile.
Thomas Jensen