BMX Racing World Cup Tulsa: Preview, schedule and how to watch
BMX racers will head to Tulsa, Okla., this weekend (27-28 April) for the last World Cup event before the 2024 UCI BMX World Championships. It’s a chance for racers to win valuable points in the competition for Olympic quotas.
In BMX racing, Olympic quotas are secured by UCI rankings. In men’s BMX racing, France already has one quota as the host nation, but can obtain a total of three thanks to its healthy hold on the number one spot. Colombia is in second, meaning they would also get three spots. Behind France and Colombia are Switzerland, Great Britain and the United States. If their rankings hold, those countries will obtain two spots each in Paris 2024.
For the women, the Netherlands and the United States have a comfortable lead on first and second place. If the numbers stand, they will get three quotas for Paris 2024. Switzerland, Australia and Colombia are ranked 3-5, respectively, meaning they would get two quotas each.
As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
• Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.
• Click here to see the official qualification system for BMX racing
Riders to watch at the BMX Racing Tulsa World Cup
The top two racers in the world, France's Romain Mahieu and Joris Daudet, are not entered into the race. Mahieu's last two world cup finishes were eighth place and a DNF. Earlier this week, he posted a picture on his Instagram from the BMX course in Rock Hill, S.C., which will host the world championships in just a few weeks, showing he's turned his focus to worlds. Daudet is still recovering from a crash in late February where he broke his collarbone, and he said on his Instagram that he's still working to get back to full strength.
Colombia’s Diego Alejandro Arboleda Ospina is ranked third in UCI, and is the top-ranked man who is entered to race in Tulsa. Arboleda Espina crashed in the first race in Brisbane, finishing 15th, then took 30th the next day. He will look to pick up momentum with a better finish heading into worlds.
Also, keep an eye out for Switzerland’s Cedric Butti. Butti has taken second twice and fourth before it in his last three races, and has been on an upward trajectory since last year’s worlds. Kamren Larsen is the top-ranked American scheduled to race.
On the women’s side, top-ranked Saya Sakakibara from Australia is expected to race. She won the overall 2023 World Cup title and has a big lead in UCI ranking points. Sakakibara had a memorable Olympic experience in Tokyo 2020 for all the wrong reasons. She had a scary crash in the semi-finals, and didn't make the final.
Since then, she took fourth at the world championships in 2023, and has owned the World Cup circuit. Sakakibara won the overall 2023 World Cup, and took first or second in every World Cup race going back to last year. Her last finish off the podium was fifth place at the World Cup on 4 June, 2023.
Tokyo 2020 BMX racing champion Bethany Shriever from Great Britain will also race, hoping to shorten the gap between her and Sakakibara. Shriever's challenges off the track have been different, as she had to fundraise for her 2020 Olympic training. But after winning gold in Tokyo, she received funding from UK Sport and the National Lottery, making it possible for Shriever to train full-time.
"I feel like if you wanna achieve what you wanna achieve fully, you've got to be doing it full time, you've got to be obsessed with your sport and it's your passion. So, I'm very lucky that I get to do this day in day out and put all my effort into it. I feel like I've just gone up a level each year and get stronger and faster," she said to Olympics.com last year.
Alise Willoughby, the American who won silver at Rio 2016, is ranked third in the world and hoping to pick up points in Tulsa. She finished third in her last World Cup race, and third at the world championships.
Schedule of UCI BMX Racing World Cup – Tulsa
Two days of BMX action will kick off on Saturday 27 April, beginning with Round 1 of the competition at 11:35 local time. The full schedule can be found below.
Saturday, April 27 2024
11:35 Round 1
12:35 Last Chance
13:10 Eighth Final
15:00 Quarter-Finals
15:45 Semi-Finals
16:20 Finals
17:10 Podium
Sunday, April 28 2024
11:35 Round 1
12:35 Last Chance
13:10 Eighth Final
15:00 Quarter-Finals
15:45 Semi-Finals
16:20 Finals
17:10 Podium
How to watch the BMX Tulsa World Cup
The BMX Tulsa World Cup will air live on the UCI YouTube Channel and FloBikes.