Trent Jones finished 13th in the men’s BMX contest today.
The 22-year-old New Zealander rode extremely well in his quarter-finals yesterday, finishing ahead of two world champions.
There were eight in each of the two semi-final brackets today, with the top four in each progressing to the final.
Jones began well with a first effort of 35.425s, which placed him third in his section. However, there was a disaster in his second ride when he was ridden into and crashed. He got back on his bike and finished, but his time of 1min 05.161s pushed him down the list. He would have needed something spectacular in his last ride to progress, but managed just 36.391s.
Jones finished seventh in his semi-final section.
The New Zealander was understandably disappointed with how things had played out.
"I just got collected from behind in the second semi," he said. "There’s no rules in BMX so that stuff happens. I still had a chance in the final round, but had to do something special. I made contact with the guy beside me on the first jump which washed my speed and from there the pace was too hot to catch.
"That’s really disappointing. I know I am so close to breaking through to that top level and I think my speed on the first day showed that."