Great Britain’s Emily Hutt took the under-23 women’s silver medal at the 2024 UCI BMX Racing World Championships in Rock Hill, South Carolina, taking GB’s top result after a tumultuous week which saw the weekend’s event under threat from extreme weather.
Women
Beth Shriever’s bid to defend her rainbow jersey got off to the perfect start in Rock Hill, as day one saw her confidently lead the full British women’s contingent through to day two’s quarterfinals. Shriever dominated her heat, showing her usual powerful start with one of the quickest reaction times across the elite field, winning by almost half a second to avoid any need for a last chance qualifier race.
A seamless quarter-final saw Shriever head into a dramatic elite women’s semi-final where it all came unstuck and the rider, who had been flying all weekend, crashed out on the final straight, ending her competition.
Under-23 rider Emily Hutt delivered an equally impressive performance in the heats, winning by 0.606 seconds – the largest margin of victory across all the under-23 heats. Throughout day two, Hutt progressed steadily through the quarter and semi-finals, winning both of her heats before heading into the final. The 19-year-old delivered a cool and collected race, being pipped to the finish line by just 0.220 seconds, to take a sensational world championships silver medal for the second year in a row.
In the junior races Betsy Bax and Sienna Harvey made if four from four for British women on day one as they placed second in their respective heats, putting themselves in the mix for medals. Both sailed comfortably through to the semi-finals where they found themselves going head-to-head where Harvey just pipped Bax to qualification by 0.84 seconds.
Harvey went on to take sixth place in the junior women's final, having been squeezed early on and struggled to get back in the race, but she leaves Rock Hill after a fantastic championships, having made it into the final.
Men
Olympic silver medallist Kye Whyte was the only British man still standing after a wild first day in the men’s races. Having required a last chance qualifier to get through to the 1/8 finals, Whyte rode his luck to make it to day two. A slip on the pedal out of the gate had looked to have ended his race and championships, but with riders crashing ahead of him, he managed to pick himself up to breeze through the field and finish second.
Two more skilfully managed races saw him sneak under the radar and through to the men’s elite final, where the weekend's racing seemed to take its toll. Whyte was looking good at the start, having worked his way from the back up to third, but he was forced high and off the track in the second corner, putting him in the back of the pack. He eventually rolled over the line in eighth.
Unfortunately Quillan Isidore and Paddy Sharrock had rather different weekends, with the 1/8 finals seeing Isidore crash out after clipping a wheel in the first corner, while a difficult start hindered Sharrock as he was unable to move up through the pack before finishing sixth. Under-23 teammate Callum Russell also went out in the 1/.8 final after finishing fifth.
Ross Cullen had earlier been eliminated in the last chance qualifiers by teammate Whyte, with under-23 Matthew Gilston and junior Mark Fletcher also falling at that hurdle.
Overall, the Great Britain Cycling Team head home with a silver medal in the final Olympic qualifying event of the season.
