Sibei Sun wins UCI BMX freestyle park competition
The rider from the Chinese delegation, who already won in Shanghai in October 2024, won the first stop of the World Cup ahead of the young Japanese rider Ozawa Miharu, and the American Olympic medalist, Hannah Roberts.
Despite the absence of a French rider in this final, the crowd was there to cheer on the world's best park riders.
BMX freestyle park is one of the disciplines that has seen the fastest growth in the level of female athletes in recent years, and this edition was once again at its highest.
One of the youngest riders at FISE 2025, 15-year-old Japanese Ozawa Miharu qualified for this final in first place, clearly ahead of her competitors, making her the favorite for the competition.
However, the competition included some regulars at the iconic FISE final: Perris Benegas, silver medalist at the Paris 2024 Games; Natalya Diehm, bronze medalist at the same edition; and Hannah Roberts, silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
With five riders, including Olympic champion Yawen Deng and the winner of the last World Cup in Shanghai, Sibei Sun, the Chinese delegation, coached by legend Daniel Dhers, was the most represented national team in this final.
In the first heat, Kim Lea Muller was the first to raise the scores, surpassing the 80.00 mark. The German rider, who trains part of the year in Australia, is one of the athletes to have made the most rapid progress over the past year and finished the competition in a very respectable fifth place.
Hannah Roberts, multiple world champion and silver medalist in Tokyo, took the third step of the podium. Despite a very promising first run, full of power, which ended with a perfectly executed flair despite a loss of speed, the American was unable to convert the result on her second run.
The young Ozawa Miharu, who qualified first, was the favorite, thanks in part to her speed and her rich collection of tricks: backflip, double barspin, tabletop, 360 tailwhip. While her first run earned her a score of 89.84, bringing her close behind Sibei Sun, the loss of speed on her second run after a clumsy landing prevented her from improving her score.
Sibei Sun was able to offer the judges a variety of tricks: flair, backflip, barspin, suicide no-hander, and 360. She also tried to use spots not yet used by the other riders, which allowed her to take the lead in the competition on her first run with a run scored 93.10. During her second run, the Chinese rider fell on a flair and didn't improve her score, but the solidity of her first run allowed her to secure the victory.
Sibei Sun started her 2025 season just as she ended her 2024 season, in the most beautiful way possible !
