Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Charlotte Worthington and Declan Brooks add to Team GB BMX medal haul

Charlotte Worthington won a breathtaking gold in the women’s BMX park freestyle final in Tokyo while compatriot Declan Brooks added Britain’s fourth BMX medal with bronze in the men’s event.

Charlotte Worthington and Declan Brooks show off their medals after the BMX Freestyle event

Worthington, a former chef who only began focusing full time on the sport in 2017, recovered from a fall on her first run to record a stunning score of 97.50 on her second go, beating US rider Hannah Roberts and Switzerland’s Nikita Ducarroz who took silver and bronze respectively.

The 25-year-old’s success came just moments before Brooks, also 25, added bronze, with a host of riders failing to surpass his 90.80 mark, with eventual winner Martin Logan of Australia finishing on 93.30.

Worthington completed a dramatic turnaround on her second run, having failed to produce the goods the first time around – and in doing so became the first woman to land a 360-degree backflip in comptition.

Worthington competes during the Women's Park Final, run 2

Perhaps the most remarkable part of her history-making trick was that she had failed to pull off the same stunt in her first run, causing the fall.

After completing her run, Worthington watched on as four rivals, including favourite Roberts, tried and failed to outdo her core.

"It was incredible,” she said afterwards. "I've not been doing that trick for so long but we've been trying to find that big banger trick and when we did we thought, 'this is the one'.

"If it wasn't for Hannah Roberts, we wouldn't be doing these tricks. It's a lot of hard work paid off."

Roberts posted an impressive 96.10 on her first run and a gold medal looked a formality until Worthington’s second shot. The American was unable to complete her second run-through and as the final rider out, her concession sealed Worthington’s victory.

Although visibly stunned at the turn of events, Roberts paid tribute to Worthington afterwards.

"There was definitely a lot going on. My first run was good and I know there were places I could improve. I slipped up and hurt my ankle,” she added.

"I'm honoured to take second place to Charlotte. It's definitely an exciting time for our sport."

Worthington has now won British, European, and Olympic titles. The medals won by her and Brooks follow Bethany Shriever’s gold and Kye Whyte’s silver earlier this week.

Brooks, who almost missed out on competing in Tokyo 2020 after knocking himself out during the World Championships in June, improved his score on his second run and watched on as six riders followed him, with only one – Venezuela’s Daniel Dhers – managed to outdo the Portsmouth-born rider.

Brooks was understandably emotional after the race, telling BBC Sport: “I’ve just cried for the last couple of minutes.

"I had an unbelievable journey on the way here. I am just so stoked. I don't think it will sink in for a while.

"For Charlotte to do her things today and put a score and tricks up there that we had never seen before, it was even harder focusing.

"I knew the run I wanted to pull, I still missed a few bits out but, to be honest, I think that is all I had."

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