American Connor Fields dropped his bike to the ground just past the finish line and screamed. He had done it.
Fields won the gold medal in the thrilling final of the BMX competition on Friday afternoon. Jelle van Gorkom of Netherlands took silver, while Colombia’s Carlos Ramirez Yepes took bronze, beating out American Nicholas Long for the third medal by just .005 seconds after a photo finish.
Long was originally put on the scoreboard as the bronze medal winner in the race’s unofficial results. After video replay, however, organizers determined that he had finished just behind Ramirez Yepes of Colombia.
For Fields, the win was his from the outset. The 23-year-old Texas native broke quickly out of the gate, and after the first turn, he and Long were out ahead, both of their blue USA jerseys leading a pack of hard-pedaling cyclists.
It was the exact start Fields wanted after a somewhat uneven semifinal performance. Fields took second in the first two heats of the semis, then placed sixth in a third heat in which he nearly wrecked when he got tangled up with another rider.
As the pack closed in, Fields was able to maintain his lead, though Long could not hold his position. In the final stretch he was passed by van Gorkom and Ramirez Yepes. He collapsed to the ground past the finish line upon realizing he had missed a medal. Eventually he stood up, found Fields, and the two brought it in for a long hug.
