Source: USA TODAY
Connor Fields looked as though he had been run off the road by a double-decker bus after the American finished seventh in the men’s BMX final. The left leg of his pants were shredded. Ripped at the knee, a protective yellow knee pad poked through. His long-sleeved shirt was torn on his left arm. His hands were cut.
In the last turn of the race, a British rider went down in front of him. Fields couldn’t avoid the crash and tumbled over. It was that kind of day for the U.S. team.
In the 2008 Games, the first time BMX was in the Olympics, the USA won three of six medals. After their collective crash and burn on Friday, they will leave London without a medal.
“I had every intention of bringing a medal home,” said Fields, who got off to a bad start and then was stuck behind a Dutch rider, which prevented him from making a late charge. Teammate David Herman did not advance to the final.
The gold medal went to Latvia’s Maris Strombergs, silver to Australia’s Sam Willoughby and bronze to Colombia’s Carlos Mario Oquendo Zabala.
Crashes are part of this high-speed sport as riders race over
