Cycling Competition Summer Youth Olympics 2018

Summer Youth Olympics 2018 

Cycling Competition at  Buenos Aires 2018

Argentina Gold Medal Win in Cycling Competition

BUENOS AIRES - The gold medal in the BMX Freestyle debut at a Youth Olympic Games was shared. The Argentines put on a great show and climbed to the top of the podium alongside the Germans.

Agustina Roth looked up at the grey sky in Puerto Madero after finishing her rides and said: “Something needs to be done so that it doesn’t rain.”

Then, as if the skies were listening to the Argentine cyclist who was competing in a pair with Inaki Iriartes, the clouds held their water until the end of the men’s final and it only started raining during the awards ceremony.

The Argentine pair won the gold medal in the mixed team event in the Youth Olympic debut for BMX Freestyle. They shared the victory with two Germans, Lara Lessmann and Evan Brandes, who also collected 25 points after the performances of each cyclist were combined.

Japan’s Kanami Tanno and Yuma Oshimo took the bronze.

Inaki Iriartes won the men's final in the mixed team event. (Photo: Pablo Elias/Buenos Aires 2018)

The action at Urban Park began with the women’s final, which Roth finished with 74 points. Among her three rivals, she was only outdone by Lessmann who got 83.66 points. Roth, her mom and her sister congratulated Lessmann after a spectacular show that gave Germany the first 15 points.

“She’s incredible and has a special talent. I couldn’t beat her," Roth said. "I tried to be close so that there would be a chance of winning a medal. The fans helped me when I needed support to do another trick. Now I’m very happy and I thank the support of the people."

In the men's final, with Roth cheering from the side of the track, Iriartes became the hero of the day with 83.33 points, which put Brandes behind in second place with 82 points. The German won at the qualifier on Wednesday, but this time the Argentine flew higher and performed sensational tricks with his bike, allowing the local pair to collect 25 points.

“The two pairs did a good job. Luckily, there wasn’t a tie breaker,” Germany's Lessmann said.

“It was a nice competition, good memories and new friends,” added Brandes.

The Argentines, in turn, were elated with adding a second gold medal for the host country at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

"I'm very happy, we gave our best and won the medal. We come from a street scene, where we don’t have any rules. But it’s a pride to take part in the Olympic Games. And also to be able to share it with very talented girls," said Iriartes before hugging his partner, Roth.

Before making its debut at the senior Olympic Games at Tokyo 2020, the junior BMX Freestyle event drew a large audience in Urban Park, where the athletes showed great skills and spread the word about the discipline, especially among the new generations.