Russia, Switzerland and Colombia claimed the first cycling medals of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The third edition of the Summer YOGs, for men and women aged 14 to 18, includes 32 sports. Cycling is present on the programme with BMX Racing, BMX Freestyle and a mixed road / mountain bike cross country event.
Held the day after the opening ceremony, the BMX Racing competition was raced on Sunday as a mixed team event. Each of the 16 teams comprised one woman and one man, with the results of the two athletes combined to produce the overall ranking.
With two second places – Varvara Ovchinnikova in the women’s final and Ilia Beskrovnyy in the men’s final – Russia came out on top to win the gold medal. Switzerland finished second overall thanks to first place for Zoe Claessens and eighth for her male team mate Kevin Schunck. Colombia (Juan Camilo Ramirez Valencia and Gabriela Bolle Carrillo) claimed the bronze medal.
“Being at an Olympic event is so much bigger than anything we’ve done so far,” Swiss athlete Schunck told Olympic News.
Cycling action will continue in Buenos Aires with BMX Freestyle, one of four sports making their debut on the Olympic scene, on Wednesday and Thursday.
The 2018 Youth Olympic Games continue through until October 18th.