French Lessons … Paris 2024
Photos Fifteen BMX
French Lessons … Paris 2024
Photos Fifteen BMX
100 years ago, Paris 1924, the last time the Olympics visited the City of Lights, three Frenchmen swept the podium. Albert Seguin took gold while Jean Gounot and Francois Gangloff shared silver in the men’s gymnastics side horse vault event. In 2024, three Frenchmen, Joris Daudet, Sylvain André and Romain Mahieu, in the suburbs of Paris, not far from the Palace of Versailles, where about to set the SQY Olympic BMX Stadium on fire and repeat the 1924 podium sweep in front of a raucous French crowd which included the president of France, Emmanuel Macron!
The 2024 potential sweep has been talked about in the sport long before the opening ceremony along the Seine. The French had done it at the Sarrians World Cup after all, but when pressed, most serious people assumed another nation would spoil the French party with at least one podium spot going to the likes of Izaac, Cedric or Carlos. The odds on three Frenchmen again, at the Olympics, was infinitesimal, given the nature of our sport.
Come race day, the three Frenchmen were dominant, knocking out win after win in the early rounds with chants of ‘Allez les Bleues’ echoing around the arena, it was electric!
When the gate dropped in the final, Joris, from gate one, lead into the first turn with Romain on his shoulder who was being pressured by Australia’s Izaac Kennedy. Izzac ventured too high in the turn ending his Olympic dream in an instant, but Sylvain was doing Sylvain things and went under Romain and Izaac to emerge in second, but the 33-year-old World Champion, Joris Daudet, was gone, already thinking about his Gold medal. Sylvain said after the race that he was going too fast, so he knew he wouldn’t be caught (we’re paraphrasing here), but Switzerland’s Cedric Butti made Mahieu work hard for his Bronze.
Crossing the line, Joris looked back, then Sylvain looked back, there was Romain … 1,2,3 … 100 years later and the French had done it again in Paris. The arena erupted with the three emerging back from the finish line to celebrate to deafening roars.
Joris, in his fourth Olympic Games, the only man in Paris to be able to claim that honour, and now the Olympic Champion remarked, ‘It’s an amazing night, and being able to do that with my friends, that’s an unreal feeling. It’s amazing to be able to write history and to put BMX on top.’
While Mahieu was down on the last straight celebrating, Saya Sakakibara, his significant other, was climbing the steps to the 8m gate. The women’s Olympic medals were still up for grabs. Saya had been dominant so far, but so had the Tokyo Olympic Champion, Beth Shriever. Neither had dropped a lap all day and had yet to face off. The World Champion, Alise Willoughby, had also been blisteringly fast on the track … and in the Olympic final, under the immense pressure, anything was possible.
Saya slotted into lane one, while Beth picked lane six, again. She’d been out there all day. Alise was in three. Zoe Claessens was all the way out in eight and it’s a short first straight. And there in two, Manon Veenstra, under the radar, but getting it done! All eyes where on Saya, Beth and Alise when the start sequence began …
Beth’s gate wasn’t what she wanted, and she quickly got swallowed by the pack. Saya was gone with Alise in two, but Manon, was about to do what Sylvain did in the men’s final, she dove under Alise and emerged from turn one in the Silver medal position. Zoe in fifth hit the boosters, went between Alise and Molly and almost reigned in Manon. Laura Smulders found a huge amount of speed on the final straight for a fourth-place finish, but it was too late for a medal. Saya, Manon, Zoe … Gold, Silver, Bronze.
‘I can’t believe it! It just feels unreal. I wanted this, I envisioned this, I visioned me on the podium!’ the new Olympic Champion, Saya, told the UCI.
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