Live Olympics. The Belgian steeplechase athletes will soon have a chance to win a medal, can Rosius and Nkansa secure their first success on the track?

BMX.VAL frustrates Ruben Gomers: ‘The semi-final could have been possible’

BMX rider Ruben Gomers was one point away from qualifying directly for the semifinals in the Paris Olympics quarterfinals on Thursday before losing in the repechage. “It’s very frustrating,” he said. “The semifinals are definitely a possibility.”

“I got off to a good start, but things went wrong very quickly. Either Dave van der Berg from the Netherlands, or the New Zealander – one of them, or both – hit me. I was no longer in control, I was sitting like a passenger on a plane. My bike wasn’t good enough in the preliminaries, and if one of my three races had been slightly better, I wouldn’t have had to ride the last race, and until that autumn I would still have been confident that I could get through the rematch. It’s a shame that things had to end this way.”

It also didn’t work out for Aiko Gommers, who had no family members. She finished fifth in the repechage. The top four advanced. “It didn’t matter, but in the end I’m very happy with the experience I had here. I was one of the youngest participants and I did better than expected. Getting six places twice and a seventh place once in the runs is not bad. I finished the race ahead of some elite girls and it was a great experience.”