Cycling-Australia's Logan wins gold in inaugural BMX freestyle contest

Tokyo 2020 Olympics - BMX Freestyle - Men's Park - Final - Ariake Urban Sports Park, Tokyo, Japan - August 1, 2021. Logan Martin of Australia celebrates winning gold. REUTERS/Matthew Childs

REUTERS

Logan Martin of Australia won the gold medal at the men's inaugural Olympic BMX freestyle event at the Ariake Urban Sports Park on Sunday.

Daniel Dhers from Venezuela took silver and Britain's Declan Brooks won the bronze.

Australia's Logan Martin has won gold in the men's freestyle BMX, the first time the event has been held at the Olympics.

Martin was top seeded and therefore the favourite to win going into the contest.

Competitors are given 60 seconds to perform as many tricks as possible and are scored on difficulty and execution.

He scored 93.30 in his first of two runs, and held that lead to the end. 

Martin entered his second run determined to improve his score, but his zeal got the better of him and he was forced to end the run early after making a mistake.

It is the first gold medal Australia has won in a land-based sport at this Olympic Games.

Reporting by Mari Saito Editing by Shri Navaratnam