Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's BMX racing
The women's BMX racing competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 29 and 30 July 2021 at the Ariake Urban Sports Park. 24 cyclists from 17 nations competed in the event. Background. This was the 4th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics since BMX racing was added to the programme in 2008. The reigning Olympic champion was Mariana Pajón of Colombia, who also won gold in 2012, and the reigning (2019) World Champion was Alise Willoughby of the United States. Willoughby  suffered a crash and did not qualify for the final. A preview by Olympics.com noted the favourites as Pajón, Willoughby, Laura Smulders of the Netherlands (2018 World Champion), and Saya Sakakibara of Australia. Qualification. A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to three qualified cyclists in the BMX race. Quota places are allocated to the NOC, which selects the cyclists. There were 24 quota places available, allocated as follows: Competition format. The competition was a three-round tournament, with quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. The time-trial seeding run from previous Games was eliminated. In each round, the cyclists  raced around a course with jumps and banked turns. The competition proceeded as follows: Schedule. The event took place over two consecutive days.