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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Jamie Braidwood

Beth Shriever’s anguish is also the magic of the most brutal sport at the Olympics

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On the dirt track at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, there was already bedlam. Sylvain Andre raised his BMX high above his head and threw it onto the ground as if it had betrayed him. Romain Mahieu ripped off his helmet and chucked it into the crowd without a care. Joris Daudet had won the gold, but the historic one-two-three for the hosts were celebrating as one underneath a French flag. Everywhere you looked, the party had started, with horns blaring and bass thumping. Moments earlier, Emmanuel Macron arrived at the finish line to a further roar of disbelief. The president? Here?

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