- Logan Martin failed to defend his Olympic gold medal
- The BMX freestyler failed to win a medal in the Paris final
- Penny Smith won bronze in women’s stairs
Logan Martin has been dethroned as the king of Olympic BMX freestyle after the Australian star crashed in both runs of the final.
But Australia found a new star in the event when Natalya Diehm produced the performance of a lifetime as her rivals faltered to win a surprise bronze medal in the women’s competition at La Concorde on Wednesday.
Martin, the 30-year-old maestro who won the inaugural edition in Tokyo three years ago, sought to push the boundaries, knowing how much progress his rivals had made in the past three years.
But despite putting in a brilliant first run, the front wheel of his BMX hit the edge of a jump during a trick just before the end, sending him crashing inconsolably onto the track.
During the second run, when he tried to catch the brilliant Argentine leader José Torres Gil, Martin crashed hard after a double gold streak, lost his momentum and rode away, his dream of two gold medals gone.
His first round score of 64.40 saw him finish ninth and last in the final, while Torres Gil took gold with a routine of 94.82, ahead of Britain’s Kieran Reilly (93.91) and local hero Anthony Jeanjean (93.76).
Elsewhere, Penny Smith won Australia’s first shooting medal at the Paris Olympics, taking bronze in the stair event.
Logan Martin failed to defend his BMX freestyle Olympic gold medal in Paris
The Australian legend failed in both runs in the final on Wednesday
Elsewhere, Penny Smith (right) won bronze in the women’s stair event final
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The 29-year-old left-handed pitcher from Bookaar in Victoria’s Western District was steady in the final in Chateauroux, southern France.
But two misses in her final elimination round left Smith one shot behind, allowing Guatemala’s Adriana Ruano Oliva to win her country’s first Olympic gold medal ahead of Italy’s Maria Stanco.
It is also the first Olympic medal for the world number 11, after Smith finished sixth in the trap and mixed trap teams at the Tokyo Games.
Earlier on Wednesday, Smith won a triple shoot-off to reach the final.