After the seeding TT runs, motos (actually called "quarters" in this event) were posted online - all based on the times the men scored the day before.

The 32 male Olympians were split into their four motos - with the four fastest guys (Joris, Graf, Sam and Connor) taking the top spots in each of the races. Fifth fastest thru 8th would then be seeded in the second slot of those four motos, so-on and so-forth. As it turned out, it appeared by the looks of things that Quarters 1 and 2 would be the toughest, but in reality - all four were equally loaded and stacked.

Other than the competition and the track itself, another major obstacle occurred on Thursday when the riders showed up at the Olympic venue: WIND.

Being located up in the mountains, about an hour drive away from the city, mountainous winds showed up along with thousands of spectators.Despite not having a ticket, the Brazilian security could not hold it back, as it entered the arena and gave racers a strong boost down the first straight. Even without the gusts, riders were already having a hard time with over-clearing the shorter jumps on the Rio track. What they really could've used was a strong tailwind for the second straight - but instead, were greeted to a wall of wind as they exited turn one. This definitely would play a huge roll in the outcome of today's three rounds.  

Starting with the first round of quarters, Liam Phillips - who'd already been recovering from a recent injury, was the first to explode out of the first turn and tested the slidability of the infield astroturf. From the looks of things, it seemed Liam re-injured his collarbone and he'd wind up calling it a day. In the same crash, Maris Strombergs was also involved and flew off-track, having to scramble back on the track, and scored a sixth place. Not quite the way a 2-time Gold medalist would want to start off his day.

The next disaster came in moto #3, first round - where Alfredo Campo (Equador) and Amidou Mir (France) tangled and saw their Olympic dream goes up in smoke. They too, would not get in the gate for the next two rounds.

This Olympics, unfortunately, will forever be remembered for its major upsets. In the second round. the crunch 'n munch continued. France's Joris Daudet - a medal favorite after becoming the No.1 Pro in the U.S., was the first victim of the day, as he collapsed off the edge of the berm jump, unable to clip out.
Simultaneously, former World Champ Niek Kinnman was flailing over the berm jump and what started off as a crazy "Whip Wednesday" photo-op soon turned in to a insane bail-out at 30-feet in the air. Niek's Meybo wound up cusioning his landing on the topside of the asphalt berm, which in turn snapped his forks and launched his twisted front wheel in to the air in a Nascar-like pile-up. Kinnman, now sporting a limp in his step, quickly grabbed what was left of his Dutch National Team bike and ran it to the finish for a 7th.  ...and the crowd went wild! 

For the final rounds, there were plenty of 6-men left motos, except for one: Heat No.4, filled with two of American's finest. Both Corben Sharrah and Connor Fields were up against Aussie's Anthony Dean and Bodie Turner, along with Molina from Argentiana (who is looking strong!), Navrestad from Norway, Evans from the UK and Nagasako from Japan. Dean was looking good and did a fine job of holding off Fields in two of the three motos. Sharrah remained consistent with a 4-3-2, slowly improving as his comfort level rose.

The most hotly contested round would be heat No.2., third and final go-round. Switzerland's David Graf, who trains at UCI HQ year-round, came in with 13 points, after a first-round crash with Joris and Maris. Maris entered with 10 points, and seemed slightly shaken after that first roudn shake-up. South Africa's Kyle Dodd, having dodged a few landmines, was sitting nicely with 9 points, while the last-man in, Toni Syarfudin from Indonesia had weaved around the carnage well enough to have 12 points.
As the gate slammed, Maris was off his game and found himself in dead-last down the first straight. Normally, at a regular American race - he'd be shutting it down and would wait for another day. But this was the Olympics - most likely his last shot at Olympic glory, and he got back on the gas and was lined up good on the inside line of the second straightaway. But here's where the wind came in to play: every rider in this round opted to not risk it, and hit their brakes approaching the berm jump. Even leaders Graf and Nyhaug. Despite looking as if he was carrying enough speed, Maris had no choice but to roll it also, and it was a race of muscle and sprint=speed as they cranked out of turn two from a near dead-stop. Sprint speed is something Maris has plenty of, and he blasted he way up to 4th place. Meanwhile, Swiss racer Graf led the race from start to finish. As points would have it, ironically, there would be a 3-way tie with 14 points - and Graf's win gave him the tie-breaker. Latvia and Maris' Olympic quest for a 3-peat were finished. 

This year, we WILL see a new Mens Gold Medalist. Tune in on Friday to find out who.

FRIDAY: MEDAL-TIME!

After scoring 1-1-1 in his quarters - the only BMX Olympian to do so, Sam Willoughby had to be feeling pretty confident. With Joris, Liam and Maris all out of the hunt already, there was a little bit of weight lifted off his shoulders. Yet still, all three Americans and Dutch riders were still in the mix - and nothing is ever a sure thing. This is BMX, afterall, and anything can and will, happen.

Format for the final day of Olympic BMX was the sweet sixteen, both men and women, would run three rounds of semi's, and the eight survivors would go one main for the medals. 

Without a doubt, the biggest major upset today was watching Australia's Caroline Buchanan, not make it to the final. With a crash in her third semi, she missed out on the big show - and looked heart-broken. All of these years, all of the hardwork and anticipation, went out the window. To say that the entire continent of Australia and the entire BMX world were shocked, would be an understatement. 

For the U.S., we were bummed to see Corben Sharrah not make the cut after the three semi's. Actually, he and Nic Long wound up in a 3-way tie with 14 points apiece, for the fourth and final transfer to the main. Long had the better finish of the three, ending Sharrah's hopes and putting Long in the final.

As the women's medal-main lined up and picked their lanes (based on times), seven countries were represented. Team USA, with both Alise and Brooke, were the only country with two riders. The odds were in our favor!

But the girl who had not lost a single lap all week - the one who had the biggest cheers from the crowd, and who had the most on the line, was Mariana Pajon. If you couldn't tell that she was the one to beat, you were in La-la land. But if there was anyone here who could beat the defneding Gold medalist, it was The Beast. Alise had come closest to Mariana in the semis and was even spotted out front of her for just a bit.

As the gate slammed down, the Colombia section of the grandstands, waving the blue, yellow and red flag of their country, exploded with cheers - as Mariana got the holeshot. But right there, on her right grip, was USA's Alise Post. The battled hard, side by side, and aired out the triple in to the first turn as France's Manon Valentino splattered on the track, flying over the bars. USA's Brooke Crain was right in there as well, battling for third place with former World Champion Stefany Hernandez. Knowing the situation back in her home country, Hernandez was out to bring a little bit of sunshine and happiness to her homeland.

As hard as Alise tried, Pajon was just too fired up today. She pulled away, and Alise held on for a great lap to hit the finishline in second. A silver medal was now hers! It was a dramatic moment, considering four years ago, in London, after a crash down the last striaghtaway, Post doesn't even remember hobbling across the finishline being helped by EMT's. 

When the men's field lined up, there were no Latvians, no Brits and no Frenchmen in the main. Amazingly, all of those dominnant BMX countries had been shut out. Instead, we had two from the U.S., two from the Netherlands, and two from Australia. Canada and Colombia rounded out the eight. Any of these eight guys could make it happen - and you could feel the intensity as the starter's recorded cadence began. 

Three beeps and they were off and flying! From the inside, it was Nic Long and his Haro carbon in the lead, with Chase's Connor Fields right beside him. Aussie Sam Willoughby was in third and doing his best to attempt a pass on Fields for the two. But Connor would have nothing of it, and the two Americans hit the second straight with the lead. 
Suddenly, the two flyung Dutchmen started pouring on the gas, and things were getting tight as they headed over the berm jump in to turn two. As Connor made a move on Nic for the lead, Jelle VanGorkom diced in low underneath Sam-I-Am. This seeed to drain all of Sam's momentum, and he struggled to get back up to speed. Not the way anybody expected Willoughby's race to go.
Dicing down the rhythm section, Fields took over the lead from Long, and was now fending off his silver-medal spot against the orange TLD colors of VanGorkom. Into the final turn, Connor was free and clear and had a gold medal clean in his sights. Just a few more obstacles and he'd make American BMX history! Long, meanwhile, got an elbow from Jelle as they exited the last turn, leaving a huge door open for Colombia's little Magician; Carlos Rameriz. He's a smaller rider, about the size of Donny Robinson, and he's a sneaky feller. You leave him a hol like that and he's going to go for it. Again, the Colombian crowd went wild, as Rameriz and Long drag-raced to the finish, handlebar to handlebar. Long was the first to push at the line, and might've done so too early - as Carloe shoved for the stripe and wound up getting the bronze-spot by 1/100th of a second.

At first, they called Long for the win and America was thrilled to think we'd matched out 3-medal result from Beijing 2008. Then, they were calling it a tie, and left people wondering how they split a bronze medal in half? Finally, after video and timing review, Carlos the Colombian was crowned the bronze medalist.
While it might have been disappointing for Nic Long - who was likely racing his last Olympics, but Team USA was still victorous with a Gold and Silver - from Fields and Post.   

Afterwards, there was a hashtag that went out - #ProjectRedemption. That really summed it up, after the U.S. was shut-out in London 2012, and went home empty-handed. This time, with four of the 2012 five returning, they were out to redeem not only themselves, but their country's pride and faith in America being the most dominant country in BMX Racing. 

And that, they did.