Have you caught any of the BMX racing at the Olympics over the last few days? If not, then you have definitely been missing out. It may not be a typical Olympic sport but it is certainly one of the most unpredictable, exciting and addictive.
Every race is jam=packed full of thrills, spills, flying bikes and crashing falls as the eight riders attempt to find the optimum line around the burms - corners to you and me.
At the semi-final stage the entire event becomes somewhat of a free-for-all as each rider battles for every place to ensure themselves a spot in the final. In how many sports could you fall twice and still reach the final? Well that is what has happened to Shanaze Reade of Great Britain who fell in her opening time trial and then collided with another rider at the first turn of her opening semi-final run to finish seventh out of eight.
However, she showed true character to finish runner-up to Laetitia le Corguille before then beating her French rival in the third and final semi-final run to reach the Olympic final - and in the fastest time of the competition as a whole making her first seed for the final. Which she again fell in trying to actually 'take out' Anne Caroline Chausson of France at the final bend - that is what it looked like anyway - as the world champion failed to medal.
It is simply amazing that none of the riders have been on the receiving end of a serious injury at some point in the event - in fact Kyle Bennett of the United States suffered a dislocated shoulder during the Men's Quarter Final runs, but the doctor popped it back into it's socket and he made the semi-final regardless.
Simply the best sport I have seen at the Olympics this year for sheer entertainment value and what more could you want possibly want?
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