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Kieran Reilly made sure to credit his ‘lucky mullet’ after winning Olympic silver for Great Britain in the men’s BMX Freestyle in Paris.
The world champion tossed his bike to the floor and collapsed on to his knees after pouring everything he had into his second run, with a score of 93.91 pushing him above French favourite Anthony Jeanjean but not enough to match the 94.82 achieved by Argentina’s Jose Torres Gil.
“It’s pretty special,” Reilly said. “I’ve worked three years just to get here so to end up on the podium is huge. A lot of work comes down to one minute on the course and I feel like I left everything out there…
“I’d hoped it was enough (for gold), I thought it could have been but that’s BMX, we’re in a subjective sport. Jose rode absolutely amazing, I would never take that away from him. I made some small mistakes. Going into the finals today it was anyone’s game so I’m really happy to get silver.”
The 23-year-old from Gateshead is diminutive in stature but easy to spot with the distinctive hairstyle he has worn since the European Championships last summer. He took gold there and then followed it up on the world stage in Glasgow.
“The mullet has done it’s job,” he said. “I’ve had it since the Euros and it did me well there. I used to get a taper fade, I went the barber and they botched it so I thought it was an ideal time to grow it out.
“I went to my first competition with it and did well, I decided I quite like it and I’m going with it. I’m not superstitious but it’s done its job.”
In a dramatic final Australia’s defending champion Logan Martin crashed on both of his runs. Jeanjean also crashed on his first but then risked it all the second time around, moving above Reilly until the Brit responded on his second run, finishing with a 720 double tailwhip.
“In this last year of competing that would have been the biggest trick of my entire run so to finish with that under fatigue took a lot of commitment,” Reilly said. “I was proud to pull that off twice. Whatever score I got I was happy with it…I’ll watch it back tomorrow and I know I’ll be proud.”
In BMX Freestyle the tricks themselves are only part of criteria that also include creativity, speed and style. Torres Gil found the different angles that pushed the boundaries of the park and made the difference.
“I think Jose, coming in, he was definitely a dark horse,” Reilly said. “He’s an amazing rider, he always competes at a high level but you don’t often see him on the top stop. But since the qualifiers he’s clearly gone in and put in the hard work and that’s shown.”
As his family – largely decked out in Newcastle United shirts – roared on, Reilly was presented with his medal by Gianni Infantino, but Magpies fan admitted he was too caught up in the moment to recognise the FIFA president.
Reilly’s medal continues Britain’s run of success in a sport making only its second appearance at an Olympic Games. Charlotte Worthington’s reign as the women’s champion ended on Tuesday when she was knocked out in qualifying, but Reilly’s silver builds on the bronze won by Declan Brooks in Tokyo.
China’s Deng Yawen won gold in the women’s final from American Perris Benegas and Australia’s Natalya Diehm. American Hannah Roberts, the world number one, crashed in both of her runs.
