Gateshead's Kieran Reilly wins silver at Paris 2024
The North East born BMX-er came in 2nd in the Men's BMX Freestyle final
Last updated 31st Jul 2024
Gateshead's Kieran Reilly won silver for Great Britain in the men's BMX Freestyle final at the Paris Olympics.
Reilly, crowned world champion in Glasgow last summer, collapsed onto his knees after pouring everything he had left 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 was a dramatic final in which Australia's defending champion Logan Martin crashed on both of his runs, while Jeanjean also crashed on his first, needing to risk it all to chase glory the second time around.
Reilly, competing last in the order after topping qualifying on Tuesday, packed both of his 60-second runs full of tricks but the pace had been set by Torres Gil, who had fully pushed the boundaries of the park with two runs full of creativity.
Reilly's silver builds on the bronze won by Declan Brooks in the men's event when BMX Freestyle made its Olympic debut in Tokyo three years ago - the same day that Charlotte Worthington won gold for Britain.
When Reilly went for his second run the 23-year-old from Gateshead was sitting in the bronze medal position behind both Torres Gil and Jeanjean, who had brought the home crowd to his feet with a spectacular second run in response to his aborted opener.
The 23 year old's official Team GB Bio reads:
"The Gateshead rider crowned his rapid ascent to the top of Freestyle BMX by becoming world champion in Glasgow in 2023, following on from the European Games gold he won in 2022.
"Reilly first learned his trade at his local skatepark and admits he rarely spent a second inside as a child.
"His talent was soon spotted and he eventually took the plunge to move to leave the North East and move to Corby to train at the world-class Adrenaline Alley skatepark.
"Reilly put the world on notice by becoming the first rider to land a ‘Triple Flair’ at the start of 2022 and has gone from strength to strength since then."
We heard from his mum, Leanne, ahead of his appearance in the qualifiers yesterday;
"I literally burst with pride every time I get to say it -
"My son's performing in the Olympics, how often do you get to say that?
"Just doing what he loves to do!
"We are all so unbelievably proud of Kieran, as a parent what more could you ask for?
"He's living his dream!
"We always knew he'd go far - with his determination,
"He used to practice and practice - even when he was younger, he was extremely determined."
Leanne tells us he'll have plenty of support:
"There's quite a few of us out here to watch him - it just feels surreal being in Paris to watch him!
"So excited - and nervous! - at the same time."