Charlotte Worthington slammed her ‘stubborn’ decision to chase another Tokyo fairytale as her latest BMX gamble spectacularly backfired in the European Championship final.
The reigning Olympic champion, 26, crashed twice and finished rock-bottom in Munich as her attempts to emulate last year’s dizzying run went up in smoke.
After falling on her first run in Tokyo, the Manchester star pulled a never-before-seen 360-degree backflip out of the bag to stun her rivals and catapult herself to the top of the table.
She suffered the same fate in the European final 12 months later but instead of reining it in, went for broke once again with an unprecedented 720-degree flip and took another tumble to finish last of the eight athletes.
Worthington has always channelled the ‘go hard or go home’ mentality BMX stars need but says she took things too far bidding to reclaim her 2019 crown.
"I made the wrong decision,” she said.
“I'm an all-in kind of person - sometimes you don't have to go that hard.
“I could have played it a little safer to get the championship win. I took the high road and this time it didn't pay off.
“It was poor decision-making – I think I made my decision too early, which involved pushing the limits of my riding and the limits of female BMX.
“I could have changed my mind and maybe looked at the competition a little more – but I guess I was being a little bit too stubborn.
“Between the runs, I was pretty stuck to my guns – I really wanted to get it and it would have been a fairytale run.
“I was all in on my chips but this time it didn’t pay off, sadly.
“I had a little thought between runs that this could be Tokyo all over again – sat in last place and then make the epic comeback.
“But competitions like this just go to show that it’s a lot harder than it looks.”
Worthington has always been a gambler and that carefree mentality has resulted in both Olympic and European glory and three World Championship medals.
She sailed through qualifying at Munich’s 1972 Olympic Park with a stunning score of 82.30 and entered Friday’s showpiece as the unequivocal star to beat.
The crash on her first run was a setback but the position was salvageable if she settled on a more reserved second.
But that’s not the way Worthington operates and after hitting the deck twice, her European hopes were in tatters.
The Paris Olympic Games are just two years away and Worthington hopes ironing out the creases can help her defend her title in the French capital.
“Every time I make those mistakes, I need to reset,” she added.
“It means you learn where to put in the work.
“And that’s what we’re going to do for the next couple of years – correcting those mistakes on the marathon that is to Paris.”
The multi-sport European Championships Munich 2022, featuring Athletics, Beach Volleyball, Canoe Sprint, Cycling, Gymnastics, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Rowing, Sport Climbing, takes place 11th-21st August on the 50th anniversary of the Olympics Games in the Germany city. Watch daily live coverage across BBC One, Two, Red Button, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website
