Buchanan native Hannah Roberts finishes 8th in BMX freestyle final

31 Jul 2024

WNDU-TV

PARIS (WNDU/AP) - Buchanan native Hannah Roberts’ quest for another Olympic medal came up short on Wednesday.

The defending silver medalist from the Tokyo Games fell while attempting a front flip late in her first run of the BMX freestyle finals, then slipped at the very beginning of her second and final run of the competition to finish in eighth place.

Deng Yawen of China made history by taking home the gold and winning China’s first Olympic medal in BMX freestyle. Roberts’ Team USA teammate Perris Benegas won silver, while Natalya Diehm of Australia took bronze.

The medal round got off to a concerning start for Roberts during warmups, as she collided with Czech rider Iveta Miculycova while she was going over a jump. Roberts appeared to grab her right shoulder afterwards as she ran immediately off the course.

However, she still rode and was on her way to a medal-worthy run before trying the front flip.

“No thought of holding back in my first run. I did the front flip in practice perfectly and when it came time to do it in the contest, I slipped my foot off the pedal before I even snapped,” Roberts said, “and by that point it was too late.”

After watching Deng improve her score with a brilliant second run, the five-time world champion from the United States knew she had to go bigger.

Roberts was only seconds into her second when she put her foot down on the landing of what she calls a routine trick, leaving her out of the medals entirely.

“It was just a lot mentally, a lot of pressure I put on myself,” Roberts said. “There’s a lot of things that can go wrong in a very short amount of time and today just wasn’t my day.”

For a full look at the final results from the women’s BMX freestyle finals, click here.