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Canada's Tory Nyhaug finishes 5th in Olympic BMX competition

Canada's Tory Nyhaug battled all day but could only capture fifth place in the men's BMX cycling final Friday at the Rio Olympic Games.

24-year-old B.C. racer comes up short in final

Jonathan Rumley · CBC Sports ·
Canada's Tory Nyhaug completed the BMX final Friday just 1.032 seconds behind the gold-medal winner at Rio 2016. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

By Jonathan Rumley, CBC Sports

Canada's Tory Nyhaug battled all day but could only capture fifth place in the men's BMX cycling final Friday at the Rio Olympic Games.

Connor Fields of the United States, 23, won the event at the Olympic BMX Centre in Rio de Janeiro with an impressive run to the finish in 34.642 seconds.

The American was followed by Dutchman Jelle van Gorkom (35.316 seconds) and Carlos Alberto Ramirez Yepes of Colombia (35.517 seconds), who claimed silver and bronze, respectively.

It was a tight race for bronze as the Colombian rider narrowly edged out Nicholas Long of the U.S. by 0.005 of a second. 

Nyhaug completed the course in 35.674 seconds, just 1.032 seconds behind the gold-medal winner. Australia's Sam Willoughby, one of the favourites to win after dominating the quarter- and semifinals, was the sixth competitor to complete the final race.

"I got caught in some traffic and tried to find a way," Nyhaug said after finishing less than two tenths of a second away from a medal.

"There are guys battling everywhere. It was a tough lap. But I came out of here healthy and with a fifth [place result], so I'll look back on this and be proud even though I didn't get a medal."

Scrambling through semis

The 24-year-old Canadian had to push himself to qualify for the final and compete for an Olympic medal after struggling in his first run in the semifinal.

Nyhaug had to perform well through three runs Friday in the semifinal at the Olympic BMX Centre to advance. The amount of points accumulated in each heat determined who would advance to the final. 

The B.C. native was up against some notable names in his heat, including Willoughby — the 2012 Olympic silver medallist, and Fields — the 2011 Pan American Games gold medallist. 

Willoughby won the first run in 34.888 seconds, followed by Fields in 35.163 seconds while Nyhaug came in sixth place with a time of 36.714.

The Canadian had some work to do in his second run and was able to improve his odds of reaching the final by coming in third with a time of 35.025 seconds, just behind first-place Willoughby (34.478 seconds) and second-place Fields (34.802 seconds).
Nyhaug punched his ticket to the final in his third and final run, posting the third-fastest time (35.640 seconds). Again, Willoughby ran away with the run and finished in 34.686 seconds to solidify himself as the gold medal favourite.
Nyhaug won gold in men's BMX cycling for Canada at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto and finished 18th at the London Olympic Games in 2012.

With files from The Canadian Press

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