Reilly wins BMX freestyle silver in dramatic final

Great Britain’s Kieran Reilly secured BMX freestyle silver in a dramatic Olympic final in Paris.

The 23-year-old scored 93.70 in his opening run to put him in second place at that point and was guaranteed a minimum of a bronze medal by the time he appeared for his second run.

He duly moved back into the silver medal position with a score of 93.91 in his second attempt but it was not enough to topple Argentina’s Jose Torres Gil, who scored 94.82 to take gold in a final of the highest quality.

“That was the highest level of competition I have ever seen in BMX,” Reilly told BBC Sport.

“It was the best run I have put down and I am so proud of myself – it’s something special.”

Having finished top in Tuesday’s qualifiers at the Place de la Concorde, Reilly was the last to drop in in the nine-strong field and knew what he was up against as he took to the course for the second time.

The reigning world champion sank to his knees and dropped his bike after completing a complex and intense run and there were tears from him and his support staff, which included Tokyo 2020 women’s BMX freestyle champion Charlotte Worthington, as the score came in.

“Waiting to go on it’s easy to see what people are doing and change the run but I had prepped the best I could and was confident in what I had,” he said.

“I knew I was guaranteed a medal [but] it didn’t change my mindset at all – up there I was going for gold.

“In that second run in the circumstances that was everything I could give. It was hot out there. I am so proud in everything I did in the run up and I am excited to continue that.”

Bronze went to home favourite Anthony Jeanjean, who recovered remarkably from a fall in his opening run to score 93.76 in his second go.

Earlier, China’s Deng Yawen won gold in the women’s event – defending champion Worthington finished 11th in Tuesday’s qualifying and failed to progress.

Gateshead-born Reilly started riding BMX bikes aged nine, when he would venture down to the local skatepark and experiment with daring tricks and flips.

After leaving school, he spent three years working as a joiner but would still take his bike to the skatepark and practice, with a career as a professional BMX rider his true ambition.

Since turning professional in 2020, Reilly’s desire to break fresh ground for himself and the sport by trialling new tricks has seen him shoot to the top of BMX freestyle.

A video of him becoming the first person to ever land the triple flair – three backflips with a 180 degree rotation – in 2022 circulated on social media and laid the foundation for what would be a whirlwind few years.

A silver at the European Championships led to European Games gold in 2023 and victory at the World Championships in Glasgow the same year.

He has now added Olympic silver to that collection after two intricate routines delivered under immense pressure in the oppressive Paris heat.

Reilly had watched Tokyo 2020 champion Logan Martin of Australia and the United States’ Marcus Christopher crash out in an extraordinary final which saw each rider increase the difficulty and risk from qualifying.

Easily recognised by what has become his trademark mullet trailing from the back of his helmet, the Briton oozed composure to produce another technical run but was unable to sway the judges enough to displace Argentine Torres Gil, whose high-difficulty first run was enough to see him top the podium.