BMX Freestyle Park hit the headlines with its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 – and it’s back for Paris 2024, when the best riders in the world will do battle on the biggest global stage. Put the dates in your diary: 30-31 July. It’s bound to be another incredible contest.
With under a year to go, let’s look at how riders qualify for this prestigious event.
To have a chance of qualifying, riders must:
be at least 15 years old by 31 December 2024
be in possession of a valid rider’s licence issued by a National Federation (NF) recognised by the UCI
have participated in at least 1 of the following events:
Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) – May-June 2024
2022 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships – 9-13 November: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
2023 UCI Cycling World Championships – 3-13 August: Glasgow, Scotland
How many riders can participate in the BMX Freestyle competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games?
A total of 24:
12 men including 1 guaranteed rider from the host nation (France)
12 women including 1 guaranteed rider from the host nation (France)
Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) can send a maximum of 2 men + 2 women
Allocations are as follows:
the first riders to qualify will be 6 men and 6 women with the highest overall ranking in the OQS.* They will qualify directly for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
the next 5 slots per gender will be awarded to nations, whose National Federation then selects the athletes to fill the slots allocated:
2 men and 2 women based on the results of the 2022 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships (priority is given to the highest-ranked NOCs from a continent with no riders currently qualified)
3 men and 3 women based on the results of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships (priority is given to the highest-ranked NOCs from a continent with no riders currently qualified).
Any remaining places for men and women will be allocated to the highest-ranked NOCs (regardless of continent) from the results of the following events – unless they already have two qualified riders:
2022 UCI Urban Cycling World Championships
2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.
* for each gender, if more than two athletes represent the same NOC at the OQS, only the two highest ranked can qualify to compete in Paris (i.e. in the case of more than 2 athletes from that NOC finishing in the top 6 of the final OQS ranking).
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
What is the Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS)?
The Olympic Qualifier Series is a new International Olympic Committee led series of 2 events taking place in May and June 2024:
Shanghai (China), 16-19 May
Budapest (Hungary), 20-23 June
Can any rider take part in the Olympic Qualifier Series?
24 men and 24 women will compete in the Olympic Qualifier Series. Only athletes who have gained at least 10 points in the UCI BMX Freestyle Park Individual Rankings as of 5December 2023 are eligible. Eligible riders will be selected by their country to participate in the OQS. The number of riders each country may select for the OQS is decided based on the UCI BMX Freestyle Park Ranking by Nation of 5th December 2023.
The higher the nation is in the UCI Rankings, the more riders that nation can select to compete.
How is the UCI BMX Freestyle Park Ranking by Nation calculated?
Nations are ranked for each gender by adding the points of their two best placed riders in the UCI BMX Freestyle Park Individual Ranking.
If there is a tie, nations’ positions are determined by the place of their best rider.
How many riders per nation and per gender can compete in the Olympic Qualifier Series?
Nations ranked 1st to 3rd: 3 riders each
Nations ranked 4th to 6th place: 2 riders
Nations ranked 7th to 12th place: 1 rider
Reserved place for 2024 Olympic Games Host: 1
Reserved place for the OQS Event Host Nations: 2
What happens if a French rider qualifies for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games through one of the qualification criteria?
For each gender, if a rider from France qualifies through one of the qualification criteria, the host country’s guaranteed place will be reallocated to the next-highest ranked NOC, that does not yet have a quota place, based on the BMX Freestyle results of the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.
***
This explanation aims to help people understand how qualification works for BMX Freestyle at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In the event of any divergence, the following Qualification System document prevails:
Qualification system – Games of the XXXIII Olympiad – Paris 2024
Follow all the thrilling qualification events in the build-up to Paris 2024 alongside live coverage on UCI BMX Freestyle channels here: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter (X)?