Jose Torres Gil wins a surprising gold medal for Argentina in the Olympic freestyle BMX finals
Gil Jose Torres, of Argentina, performs a trick, with the Luxor Obelisk of La Concorde square in the background, during the cycling BMX freestyle women's park final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Frank Franklin II]
PARIS (AP) — Jose Torres Gil has won the men’s freestyle BMX gold medal at the Paris Olympics, putting together a sublime first run that withstood the best efforts of British world champion Kieran Reilly and French superstar Anthony JeanJean. The rider from Argentina opened with a massive 720, threw down another 720 later in the run and managed to ride through a near-bobble at the end to score 94.82 points. That was better than everyone else, including his own second run, when put down another big score that very nearly would have landed him on the podium. Defending champ Logan Martin of Australia crashed on both of his runs and never factored into the medal chase.
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Gil Jose Torres, of Argentina, performs a trick, with the Luxor Obelisk of La Concorde square in the background, during the cycling BMX freestyle women's park final at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Frank Franklin II