Martin, the two-time World Champion, dominated the men’s freestyle competition from start to finish, ultimately winning gold with his first run in the Final with a score of 93.30, ahead of Venzuela’s Daniel Dhers (92.05) and Great Britain’s Declan Brooks (90.80).

It was a deserved triumph for Martin, who made world-wide headlines for building a training track with his mates in his Gold Coast backyard.

But it wasn’t the only track that helped the Aussie to victory.

A quickly built replica of the Olympic course, constructed with the support of AusCycling, Gold Coast Council, the Queensland Academy of Sport and Queensland Government in the weeks leading into the Games, also played a key role.

Only two countries built a replica track – Australia and Great Britain. And those countries won the gold medals in the men’s and women’s competitions, while Great Britain also won bronze in the men’s competition.

While Martin celebrated his place among Australia’s Olympic champions, for others Tokyo provided moments of magic, courage, disappointment and utter heartbreak.

Natalya Diehm, the first woman to represent Australia at the Olympics in freestyle BMX, produced one of the most courageous performances of the Games. Riding with a busted ACL – she ruptured it for the fifth time just weeks before arriving in Tokyo – then having her knee ‘pop’ during a stunning first run, the Queenslander found herself in the bronze medal position for much of the Final before eventually finishing fifth.

Lauren Reynolds performed brilliantly in the women’s BMX Racing event, becoming the first Australian to compete in BMX at three Olympics as she powered her way into the Final and also finished fifth.

It was a fantastic achievement and the West Australian will be determined to continue her quest for a medal with a fourth Olympic appearance at Paris 2024.

For the rest of her BMX Racing team-mates, there was only the heartache of being cruelly denied a chance to contest their respective Finals.

Two-time Olympian Anthony Dean, a finalist in Rio, had his hopes literally crash just seconds into his first run when he was contacted by the wheel of another rider. Dean showed tremendous resilience to pick himself up and contest his final two quarter-final runs, but the impact of the crash had taken its toll and he was unable to qualify for the semi-finals.

Saya Sakakibara’s dreams of a medal at her first Olympics also ended in a similarly spectacular crash in the last semi-final race before the women’s Final.

Sakakibara and her brother Kai had captured the hearts of the Australian public with their inspiring family story and she showed why she’s one of the rising stars in the sport by powering her way into the semis with the fastest run in the quarter-finals.

Having won the second heat of her three-run semi-final, Sakakibara just needed to finish her last run to reach the Final and was leading her race before she, too, was caught in a spectacular crash and had to be stretchered from the track.

Fortunately Sakakibara was cleared of serious injury, but her ‘Did Not Finish’ result meant she missed the Final on a countback and, after walking back to the track after receiving medical attention, she could only watch on as the Final took place.

While it was an emotional end to her first Olympic campaign, the future is bright for the talented rider. And BMX Technical Director Wade Bootes is now on the hunt for more just like her as he seeks to build the depth of Australian talent across both the men’s and women’s Racing and Freestyle formats, with a long-term eye on the Brisbane Games in 2032.

David Taylor