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On July 31, China's Deng Yawen won the gold medal with a score of 92.60 points in the final of the women's freestyle BMX park race at the Paris Olympics. This is the first time that the Chinese BMX freestyle team has won a medal at the Olympic Games, and it is also a gold medal, making history!
On July 31, champion Deng Yawen at the award ceremony. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Yibo
Different from shooting, table tennis, diving and other sports, BMX competitions are relatively new to many Chinese. Some netizens asked, how are BMX cars compared? Handlebars, backflips, dragon tail swings...... What does all this mean? What are the criteria for judging the score? Xinhua News Agency reporter Yao Youming popularized this "niche sport" for everyone in Paris.
As one of the oldest sports in the Olympic Games, cycling is the "traditional territory" of European and American athletes, especially European athletes. Over the past 30 years, cycling has shown its strong vitality, with new sports constantly entering the Olympic Games. At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, mountain biking became an official sport; In 2008, BMX racing took the stage of the Beijing Olympic Games; The Tokyo 2020 Olympics have added BMX freestyle competitions.
Champion Deng Yawen of China (center), runner-up Benegas of United States (left) and third runner-up Natalia · Dim of Australia during the medal ceremony on July 31. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Yibo
In order to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics, the Chinese Cycling Association set up a national BMX freestyle training team in 2018. Deng Yawen only spent three months in the provincial team before he qualified for a tryout with the national team.
On July 31, Deng Yawen was in the game. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Huhu
In the competition, the competitors need to complete technical actions such as handlebars, flips, and tail flicks on the track within one minute, and five judges will score them. The judges scored each player between 0.00 and 99.99 points based on factors such as the use of different props on the track, the difficulty coefficient of the movements, and the quality of completion, and the final score of the players was the average score of the five judges.
On July 31, Deng Yawen was in the game. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Huhu
On July 31, Deng Yawen successfully completed a number of difficult movements, including three weeks of aerial knobs, and scored 92.50 points in the first round. In the second round, Deng Yawen further improved the difficulty of the action and completed the second round with 92.60 points.
On July 31, Deng Yawen (right) celebrates after winning the championship. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Yibo
The level of competition in BMX freestyle in China did not improve overnight. By employing high-quality foreign coaches, actively training and competing abroad, and athletes training hard, our competitive level has gradually improved. With Deng Yawen winning the Olympic gold medal, the sport is expected to gain further popularity and development in China.
In addition to Deng Yawen, there are now three or four female athletes in the mainland who have the strength to compete for gold medals in international competitions, and after the Paris Olympics, we look forward to more surprises from the Chinese BMX freestyle team!
Curator: Qi Huijie
Producer: Cao Jianjie, Li Xiang, Hu Guoxiang
Reporter: Yao Youming
Co-ordinator: Xiao Leitao, Kong Weiqian
Video clip: Zhao Lulu
Editor: Hou Bangxing