Strombergs defends men's BMX title

Maris Strombergs of Latvia successfully defended his Olympic men's BMX title here on Friday. Australian Sam Willoughby finished second for the silver with Carlos Oquendo of Colombia taking the bronze. Strombergs claimed the maiden Olympic men's BMX gold when the sport made its debut in Beijing fuor years ago. And despite coming up against a handful of younger riders who had shown their mettle in the unforgiving quarter-finals and semi-final races, the Latvian stepped up when it mattered most. He shot off the eight-metre high ramp and had quickly built a slight lead on the rest of the eight-man field. Willoughby was hot on his heels but with several jumps and berms to negotiate, neither rider was free of danger. British gold medal hope Liam Phillips came down on the penultimate berm and struggled to rejoin the field after he could not clip his foot back on to his pedal. It left the hosts without a medal as only minutes earlier Shanaze Reade could only finish sixth in the women's final. Despite Willoughby's attempt at a late fightback on the closing bumps Strombergs held on to triumph.