Nhlapo races to BMX semis

2008-08-20 08:25

Beijing - South Africa's Sifiso Nhlapo on Wednesday qualified for the semi-finals of the men's Olympic BMX racing.

A report said a nervous but thrilling first day of BMX racing saw most of the big favourites for the gold survive the Laoshan track to qualify for the semi-finals.

The cosmopolitan last 16 comprises Nhlapo, three Americans, two Australians, two Latvians, two Dutchman and a rider each from Italy, Switzerland, France, Argentina, New Zealand and Colombo after four heats of three runs.

'Everyone has a dream'

Nhlapo has a strong chance of adding to the single silver medal that South Africa have won in the Olympics so far.

He said after finishing top of his heat: "I'm ecstatic. This is the Olympics.

"Everyone has got that dream in their head. I'm just ready for tomorrow (Thursday)."

After the entire men's field had battled individually over two-run time trials in a bid to gain one of the coveted places on the inside of the track, the three-run heats gave a truer glimpse of what BMX is all about.

Among the big names to fall victim to the hidden hazards on the 370m track was Luke Madill of Australia, who had famously built a replica of the Olympic BMX track in a bid to boost his chances of a medal.

Thrown off his bike

Madill's hopes came crashing down, quite literally, when he got sucked into a pile-up which took down France's former two-time world champion Thomas Allier, who also did not qualify.

Argentina's Ramiro Marino was also among the riders who tasted the dirt when he got caught out on the first tight bend. He was painfully thrown off his bike, which ended up going over the other side of the safety barrier.

With a maximum of 20 points in his heat, he finished last of his eight-man field over the three runs and failed to qualify.

- AFP