The BMX Freestyle competition and Hannah Roberts are both making their debut on the Olympic stage. However, the journey for the first-timer has not been an easy one.
Indiana's Hannah Roberts will be leading the pack into the first-ever inaugural Olympic BMX freestyle finals Saturday night, as Team USA goes for two gold medals.
Saturday night’s action, which begins at 8:10 p.m. CT, starts with the women’s final.
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In her Olympic-debut, Roberts finished as the top scorer during seeding, with Perris Benegas just claiming the second highest spot.
Roberts won the world championships in the event in 2017, 2019 and 2021, while Benegas won the title in 2018. The three-time world champion posted an average that was a point higher than Benegas’ during the two seeding runs.
The 19-year-old South Bend, Indiana native finished her first run with a score of 89.80, the highest of any run Friday night. Roberts then completed her second round with a score of 85.60, leaving her with an average of 87.70 - the highest of the night.
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Freestyle BMX riders are scored on execution and difficulty of their tricks. The top-scoring rider will compete last in the final for the event.
Roberts began competing when she was 12 years old. In 2017, she became the first-ever BMX Freestyle World Champion at the inaugural World Championships in China.
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This year, Roberts earned her third world title in the women’s BMX park World Championship in France.
