As you all know, this is the first Olympics for BMX racing to appear in -- and if you watched it recently, you'd now how much of a disaster its been. Why? The first turn on the course breaks the entire game.
You have like 8 bike riders starting at the gate about 5 inches from each other, and they are expected to all take the same turn at the same time. So I watched like 10 races, and a good 6 or 7 of them had bikers wiping out at the first turn, and I saw the paramedic team 3 times. It's just stupid. Who needs turning skill anymore if it's just "if you avoid a collision you will place!".
One of the top Australian rider (who was a favorite to win) wiped out at the first turn because some guy's wheel hit his wheel (which proceeded to wipe out at least 3 other racers).
No penalties, nothing. The strategy for Olmypic BMX is to be the fastest one out of the gate so you have a better chance at the inevitable collision at the first turn. Oh and lane placement is completely unbalanced.
Talk about terrible design
The wipe outs are fun to watch though -- probably the only reason it will stay a sport in the olympics.
Edited on Aug 20, 2008 7:49 pm GMT
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