Sam Willoughby World Champion in another dominant display. By BMX Australia
Jul 28, 2014
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It was an electric atmosphere inside Ahoy stadium in Rotterdam for the final day of the UCI BMX World Championships, with the crowd treated to some breathtaking racing, thrills and spills and high drama. Australian Olympic silver medalist Sam Willoughby, fresh off his Time Trial crown on Saturday breezed through the early rounds and looked particularly sharp, with the 2012 world champion a man on a mission after crashing out last year.It was a day when plenty of big names were brought down on the tight track, with defending champion Liam Phillips from Great Britain going out in the 1/8 round after dramatically crashing out. While Olympic gold medalist Maris Strombergs of Latvia crashed on the final section of the course in his semi-final allowing Australian Anthony Dean to accompany good mate Willoughby in the final.
The final proved to be no different as Willoughby made the move of the weekend from second to first over American Connor Fields who then crashed hard to bring down all but two riders, bikes and bodies flying in all directions, as Willoughby rode to glory with Dean finishing eighth.
An ecstatic Willoughby was visibly emotional following his win, dedicating it to the late mother of American girlfriend Alise Post, who finished second in the elite woman the race before.
“It’s pretty special for me to win this,” he said. “It’s incredible, you train hard and set your goals, it’s all realistic on paper but doing it is a whole different story.”
In what was a case of history repeating, ten years ago to the day Warwick Stevenson became the first Australian to be crowned elite World Champion in the Netherlands, a statistic Willoughby mentioned with pride before thanking the crowd.
“To come back 10 years later and do it in the same country is pretty cool, so I’m stoked,” he said. “The crowds awesome here, it’s been a great atmosphere.”
Defending world champion Caroline Buchanan was left battered and bruised after crashing during her last heat earlier in the day, however seemed un-phased when she dominated her quarter final, sending a clear message of intent to the rest of the field.
However it wasn’t her day, after she rode an uncharacteristically poor semi-final to finish fifth and miss out on the final, potentially hampered by the earlier crash.
Australian Rachelle Smith was all smiles at the top of the ramp before her junior women’s final and rode a fantastic race from gate seven to come in fifth.
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