Worthington and Roberts fight out thrilling BMX Freestyle showdown

Charlotte Worthington (Great Britain) and Hannah Roberts (USA) staged an epic battle in the BMX Freestyle Olympics final, producing some of the best runs in Park competition history in the debut of the event at the Games.

Charlotte Worthington in action at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Source: Getty Images

BMX Freestyle wowed audiences around the world in its debut at the Olympics, the combination of artistry, acrobatics and daring the perfect cocktail on the Tokyo Olympics course. 

Worthington’s performance to win gold may go down as the gutsiest of them all, as the 25-year-old (along with every other rider in the women’s field) came into Tokyo 2020 as a heavy underdog to favourite Roberts. 

Those predictions seemed well-placed as Roberts produced a dominant first run for top approval from the judges, a score of 96.10 as an emotional Roberts celebrated as if she'd just won the gold medal.

However, no one knew just how much firepower the British rider Worthington had been holding back in her training sessions and seeding runs. 

After falling on her first run, and not being in the medals, the British rider could have opted for a less risky run, that would have likely got her in the medals. Instead, Worthington made history on her second run even before her winning score of 97.50 was flashed on the screen, as she landed a 360 backflip over the central box feature of the course - the first time the trick has been completed in women’s competition.

After that, and among many other big, clean tricks, she would later land a front flip over the same volcano feature before finishing her run with another invert, known as a flare, to put down what was likely the greatest women’s BMX freestyle run of all time.

“I said to my coach on the way out, ‘Let’s just go out there and have some fun, be relaxed',” Worthington said. “I just tried to take it one trick at a time.

“It was tough to get back up there after falling on my first run. You start to think, ‘Oh, what if this isn’t it? What if I’ve not got it?’ But you’ve got to just keep telling yourself that you do have it.”

Worthington had a tense wait as top-seeded Roberts had the final run of the day. But, the 19-year-old favourite would have to settle for silver after an error early in her last attempt, slipping off the pedals on a double tailwhip.

Meanwhile, Nikita Ducarroz's (Switzerland) first run was enough to earn her the bronze, while Australian Natalaya Diehm finished fifth with a series of solid runs.