Chinese athlete Sun Sibey has set her sights on an Olympic podium after becoming the first champion in women's BMX freestyle park at the Asian Games. She told a representative of CGTN Sports Scene, Jiang Mengsi, that this victory significantly boosted her confidence in upcoming competitions.
In Aichi-Nagoya on Sunday, Sun won the gold medal with a score of 93.80. BMX freestyle debuted as an official, medal-awarding sport at the continental tournament. Japanese Mikaru Ozawa took silver with a score of 91.20, and Chinese teammate Sun Jiaci secured bronze.
The Chinese athlete admitted that she entered the final believing in her chances of winning, but errors in the opening run made the competition more difficult than expected. Sun noted: 'I thought I could win the gold medal, but I didn't expect to make such mistakes in the first round.' She added that she had planned all her tricks one or two days prior to the final day and was very happy when the victory was finally confirmed.
BMX freestyle combines complex aerial tricks with control and creativity, while the risk of injury is always present. Sun stated that overcoming fear remains one of the biggest challenges when mastering new or unfamiliar tricks. Her background in Chinese martial arts also proved useful. Sun explained that the acrobatic elements and spins she studied before starting BMX helped improve her reaction time on the bike, especially when something went wrong during a trick execution.
Analyzing the development of BMX freestyle in Asia, Sun believes that athletes in the region already possess the technical skills to perform complex tricks, but they still need to work on increasing jump height and developing more unique individual styles. After achieving a historic result at the Asian Games, Sun is now looking toward a higher goal. She emphasized: 'The next step is the Olympic podium. I will continue to work towards this goal.'