On Friday night, the BMX track just outside Paris was alive with celebration. Joris Daudet, Sylvain Andre, and Romain Mahieu achieved a historic milestone: the first French podium sweep in BMX at the Summer Olympics in a century. The trio received cheers from enthusiastic fans, including French President Emmanuel Macron.

The three riders revelled in their victory. They paraded with flags, took photos, and embraced those around them. Despite the urgency of the race, they took their time to savour their achievement on the track.

“It’s hard to perform when it matters,” Daudet, the reigning world champion, said. “But today we were able to do that. It’s amazing. It’s a dream.” For Daudet, 33, who began BMX at age 9 in Saintes, this was a significant milestone. Although he had earned 12 world championship medals, he had never reached an Olympic final before. “My dream came true tonight,” he reflected, “not just to win gold, but also to share the podium with my friends.”

Mahieu also had a memorable night, with his partner, Saya Sakakibara from Australia, winning gold in the women’s race.

British rider Kye Whyte, who aimed to improve on his silver from Tokyo, suffered a severe crash during his second semifinal. He hit the ground at 56 kph and was promptly taken away on a stretcher. Despite the accident, he was moving as he was loaded.

France’s BMX success at the Olympics has been rare, despite its dominance at world championships. The only previous Olympic medal was a silver won by Laetitia Le Corguille at the 2008 Beijing Games. However, the French trio had shown strong performances in their heat races. Andre, Daudet, and Mahieu all won multiple heats and advanced smoothly to the semifinals.

American hopes were high with Kamren Larsen and Cameron Wood. Larsen, who had finished in the top three of each heat, crashed out of his second semifinal. Wood struggled to overcome a poor start in his semifinal race. Despite his efforts, Wood couldn’t catch up to the leaders.

“It’s an unforgiving sport at times,” Wood said. “I’m proud of everything I did, even though it didn’t go as planned. I’m just focussing on the process and the journey.”