# Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's BMX

The men's BMX racing competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on August 20–22 at the Laoshan BMX Field, the first to be officially featured in the Olympic cycling program.
Latvia's Māris Štrombergs powered his lead over the eight-strong final squad from the start to grab his nation's first gold medal at the Games. He stormed home on a sprint run to a finish in 36.190, leaving the American duo Mike Day and Donny Robinson behind at 36.606 and 36.972 for the silver and bronze medals respectively.

## Qualification

Thirty-two riders representing twenty countries are qualified for the event. Qualification was based on UCI ranking by nations, 2008 UCI BMX World Championships results and wild-cards reserved to a Tripartite Commission (IOC, ANOC, UCI).

## Competition format

Each of the 32 men competing performed two runs of the course in individual time trials to determine seeding for the knockout rounds. Then, they were grouped into 4 quarterfinal groups based on that seeding. Each quarterfinal consisted of three runs of the course, using a point-for-place system. The top four cyclists in each quarterfinal (for a total of 16) moved on to the semifinals. The semifinals also used a three-race point-for-place system to determine which cyclists advanced, with the top four in each of the two semifinals moving on to the final. Unlike the previous two rounds, the final consisted of a single race with the first to the finish line claiming the gold medal.

## Schedule

All times are China Standard Time (UTC+8)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Wednesday, 20 August 2008 | 09:00 | Seeding |
| Wednesday, 20 August 2008 | 11:40 | Quarterfinals |
| Friday, 22 August 2008 | 09:00 | Semifinals and final |

## Results
### Seeding

| Rank | Name | Time |
| 1 | Mike Day (USA) | 35.692 |
| 2 | Māris Štrombergs (LAT) | 35.910 |
| 3 | Damien Godet (FRA) | 36.008 |
| 4 | Artūrs Matisons (LAT) | 36.072 |
| 5 | Raymon van der Biezen (NED) | 36.112 |
| 6 | Sergio Salazar (COL) | 36.145 |
| 7 | Augusto Castro (COL) | 36.301 |
| 8 | Jonathan Suárez (VEN) | 36.325 |
| 9 | Andrés Jiménez (COL) | 36.339 |
| 10 | Manuel de Vecchi (ITA) | 36.351 |
| 11 | Jared Graves (AUS) | 36.372 |
| 12 | Kyle Bennett (USA) | 36.421 |
| 13 | Sifiso Nhlapo (RSA) | 36.428 |
| 14 | Roger Rinderknecht (SUI) | 36.466 |
| 15 | Kamakazi (AUS) | 36.492 |
| 16 | Ivo Lakučs (LAT) | 36.509 |
| 17 | Marc Willers (NZL) | 36.519 |
| 18 | Rob van den Wildenberg (NED) | 36.522 |
| 19 | Thomas Allier (FRA) | 36.649 |
| 20 | Michal Prokop (CZE) | 36.689 |
| 21 | Ramiro Marino (ARG) | 36.768 |
| 22 | Luke Madill (AUS) | 36.795 |
| 23 | Robert de Wilde (NED) | 36.803 |
| 24 | Donny Robinson (USA) | 36.810 |
| 25 | Emilio Falla (ECU) | 36.993 |
| 26 | Scott Erwood (CAN) | 37.050 |
| 27 | Cristian Becerine (ARG) | 37.253 |
| 28 | Liam Phillips (GBR) | 37.392 |
| 29 | Henrik Baltzersen (DEN) | 37.635 |
| 30 | Sebastian Kartfjord (NOR) | 38.688 |
| 31 | Vilmos Radasics (HUN) | 38.830 |
| 32 | Akifumi Sakamoto (JPN) | 40.548 |

### Quarterfinals
#### Heat 1

| Rank | Name | 1st run | 2nd run | 3rd run | Total | Notes |
| 1 | Mike Day (USA) | 36.170 (1) | 36.080 (1) | 36.122 (1) | 3 | Q |
| 2 | Marc Willers (NZL) | 47.614 (4) | 36.253 (3) | 36.278 (2) | 9 | Q |
| 3 | Donny Robinson (USA) | 48.906 (6) | 36.235 (2) | 36.490 (3) | 11 | Q |
| 4 | Andrés Jiménez (COL) | 36.619 (2) | 36.939 (5) | 36.660 (4) | 11 | Q |
| 5 | Jonathan Suárez (VEN) | 53.614 (8) | 36.481 (4) | 36.789 (5) | 17 | |
| 6 | Emilio Falla (ECU) | 37.080 (3) | 37.381 (6) | 1:02.877 (8) | 17 | |
| 7 | Akifumi Sakamoto (JPN) | 48.487 (5) | 42.614 (8) | 40.046 (6) | 19 | |
| 8 | Ivo Lakučs (LAT) | 53.300 (7) | 39.213 (7) | 57.461 (7) | 21 | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Name | 1st run | 2nd run | 3rd run | Total | Notes |
| 1 | Sifiso Nhlapo (RSA) | 36.796 (3) | 36.325 (2) | 36.507 (1) | 6 | Q |
| 2 | Artūrs Matisons (LAT) | 35.903 (1) | 36.819 (3) | 37.037 (2) | 6 | Q |
| 3 | Raymon van der Biezen (NED) | 37.205 (4) | 35.878 (1) | 1:04.709 (5) | 10 | Q |
| 4 | Kyle Bennett (USA) | 36.639 (2) | 37.146 (4) | DNF (8) | 14 | Q |
| 5 | Henrik Baltzersen (DEN) | 38.561 (8) | 39.083 (5) | 38.846 (3) | 16 | |
| 6 | Michal Prokop (CZE) | 38.535 (7) | 41.915 (7) | 56.171 (4) | 18 | |
| 7 | Liam Phillips (GBR) | 37.773 (5) | 41.219 (6) | 1:27.010 (7) | 18 | |
| 8 | Ramiro Marino (ARG) | 38.202 (6) | DNF (8) | 1:16.617 (6) | 20 | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Name | 1st run | 2nd run | 3rd run | Total | Notes |
| 1 | Māris Štrombergs (LAT) | 36.762 (1) | 35.934 (1) | 40.628 (5) | 7 | Q |
| 2 | Rob van den Wildenberg (NED) | 37.403 (2) | 37.024 (5) | 37.176 (1) | 8 | Q |
| 3 | Manuel de Vecchi (ITA) | 37.416 (3) | 37.284 (6) | 37.840 (2) | 11 | Q |
| 4 | Kamakazi (AUS) | 42.377 (7) | 36.785 (3) | 38.463 (3) | 13 | Q |
| 5 | Augusto Castro (COL) | 37.609 (4) | 36.992 (4) | 42.473 (6) | 14 | |
| 6 | Vilmos Radasics (HUN) | 38.725 (6) | 39.220 (8) | 39.276 (4) | 18 | |
| 7 | Robert de Wilde (NED) | 54.105 (8) | 36.237 (2) | 1:08.185 (8) | 18 | |
| 8 | Scott Erwood (CAN) | 37.989 (5) | 37.653 (7) | 50.052 (7) | 19 | |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Name | 1st run | 2nd run | 3rd run | Total | Notes |
| 1 | Jared Graves (AUS) | 38.067 (1) | 36.496 (2) | 36.076 (1) | 4 | Q |
| 2 | Cristian Becerine (ARG) | 38.399 (2) | 42.733 (7) | 36.985 (2) | 11 | Q |
| 3 | Roger Rinderknecht (SUI) | 54.234 (8) | 36.462 (1) | 37.136 (3) | 12 | Q |
| 4 | Damien Godet (FRA) | 41.241 (3) | 40.221 (4) | 38.023 (6) | 13 | Q |
| 5 | Sergio Salazar (COL) | 54.216 (7) | 37.479 (3) | 37.573 (5) | 15 | |
| 6 | Thomas Allier (FRA) | 41.594 (4) | 41.043 (5) | 38.037 (7) | 16 | |
| 7 | Luke Madill (AUS) | 51.198 (6) | 1:02.432 (8) | 37.420 (4) | 18 | |
| 8 | Sebastian Kartfjord (NOR) | 42.658 (4) | 42.625 (6) | 38.821 (8) | 19 | |

### Semifinals
#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Name | 1st run | 2nd run | 3rd run | Total | Notes |
| 1 | Mike Day (USA) | 36.470 (1) | 36.219 (1) | 37.461 (3) | 5 | Q |
| 2 | Sifiso Nhlapo (RSA) | 37.197 (3) | 36.597 (3) | 36.457 (2) | 8 | Q |
| 3 | Donny Robinson (USA) | 36.832 (2) | 36.462 (2) | 56.249 (6) | 10 | Q |
| 4 | Andrés Jiménez (COL) | 37.363 (4) | 36.862 (4) | 44.507 (5) | 13 | Q |
| 5 | Raymon van der Biezen (NED) | 55.121 (7) | 37.258 (6) | 36.200 (1) | 14 | |
| 6 | Kyle Bennett (USA) | 43.518 (5) | 37.200 (5) | 43.897 (4) | 14 | |
| 7 | Artūrs Matisons (LAT) | 53.379 (6) | 1:17.170 (8) | DNF (8) | 22 | |
| 8 | Marc Willers (NZL) | 1:22.619 (8) | 43.256 (7) | DNF (8) | 23 | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Name | 1st run | 2nd run | 3rd run | Total | Notes |
| 1 | Māris Štrombergs (LAT) | 36.485 (1) | 35.969 (1) | 36.071 (1) | 3 | Q |
| 2 | Rob van den Wildenberg (NED) | 37.277 (3) | 36.360 (2) | 37.496 (4) | 9 | Q |
| 3 | Jared Graves (AUS) | 36.904 (2) | 39.296 (5) | 37.242 (3) | 10 | Q |
| 4 | Damien Godet (FRA) | 37.410 (4) | 36.707 (4) | 37.805 (6) | 14 | Q |
| 5 | Cristian Becerine (ARG) | 37.480 (5) | DNF (8) | 37.079 (2) | 15 | |
| 6 | Kamakazi (AUS) | 42.551 (7) | 41.256 (6) | 37.497 (5) | 18 | |
| 7 | Roger Rinderknecht (SUI) | DNF (8) | 36.610 (3) | 48.734 (8) | 19 | |
| 8 | Manuel de Vecchi (ITA) | 38.018 (6) | 42.148 (7) | 38.208 (7) | 20 | |

## Final

| Rank | Name | Time |
| | Māris Štrombergs (LAT) | 36.190 |
| | Mike Day (USA) | 36.606 |
| | Donny Robinson (USA) | 36.972 |
| 4 | Andrés Jiménez (COL) | 39.137 |
| 5 | Rob van den Wildenberg (NED) | 39.772 |
| 6 | Jared Graves (AUS) | 2:19.233 |
| 7 | Sifiso Nhlapo (RSA) | DNF |
| 8 | Damien Godet (FRA) | DNF |