Hannah Roberts has an Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) trophy and a quota spot to Paris 2024. But, much to her dismay, what the BMX freestyle rider is still missing is a pair of sunglasses shaped like the Olympic rings.
Spotting Australia’s Natalya Diehm wearing them after the women’s BMX Freestyle Park final in Budapest on Saturday, 22 June, Roberts could not help but blurt out: “You look hot!”
To this a smug Diehm jokingly replied, “I know... Boarding the plane tomorrow with these on”.
“Hell yeah, you are,” Roberts approved.
Roberts and Diehm had just secured their quota to Paris 2024 based on their combined points from the Olympic Qualifier Series in Shanghai and Budapest.
The USA rider also picked up a hefty trophy to wrap up a nearly faultless run in the Hungarian capital. First in qualifying, the five-time world champion and Olympic silver medallist dropped into her first finals run last after two other riders had already put down big scores in the 90s.
Not letting that rattle her, Roberts blasted a playlist of "depressing" songs through her headphones and proceeded to blaze through the course with an endless stream of tricks. She punctuated that stellar run with a dramatic flip in the final seconds before skidding to a stop and raising both fists in the air.
Nobody was able to surpass Roberts' first run score of 93.48. By the time she dropped in again, Roberts did a few easy laps before cutting her victory run short and bolting straight for her teammate Perris Benegas, skillfully dodging USA's head coach Ryan Nyquist on the way.
"When the victory lap came about I was like, 'Man, I don't want this. I don't want this to be all about me'," Roberts said. "My teammate Perris (was) working through injuries the last year and she's been putting in so much work, off the bike and on the bike, and I wanted her to feel that victory too. So I ran over, I dodged my coach, and I gave her the biggest hug I could because she's come such a long way. And I want her to be so proud of herself because I am and I'm excited for us to go through another Olympics together."
In addition to Roberts and Benegas, the world governing body for cycling (UCI) confirmed that Australia’s Diehm, Sun Jiaqi and Deng Yawen of the People’s Republic of China, and Switzerland’s Nikita Ducarroz secured tickets for Paris 2024.
*As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.
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"I don't want to miss a thing": Benegas' triumphant comeback
Benegas was on the course three riders before Roberts' victory lap and managed to jump from seventh to first place with a 91.92 score.
Clutching her Paris 2024 ticket, the Tokyo 2020 Olympian was overcome with emotion as she recounted her comeback from injury to her second Games. A year ago, Benegas was getting surgery after she tore her right ACL and lateral medial meniscus.
"On this day last year, I was on the operating table and I woke up and it was the most excruciating pain I've ever been in," Benegas said. "I asked to go back to the hospital because I couldn't control the pain, and I had no idea where I would be a year from now. And every day was just a hurdle and hard work.
"To be going to Paris is unreal. I'm just so grateful. I'm so happy right now."
The two-stage Olympic Qualifier Series were Benegas' first events back in about a year. After finishing fourth in Tokyo, she is now looking ahead to a second chance in an Olympic host city that is a hom*ophone of her own name.
"My mom is a big fan of Aerosmith," Benegas explained the origins of her Olympic-sounding name. "My brother is named Tyler, after Steven Tyler, and then she wanted to name me Perry, but thank goodness my aunt stepped in and said, 'No way'. So Perris it is."
Emotion and nerves on the BMX course
Like Benegas, Sun Jiaqi of the People's Republic of China was in tears after finishing her second run, which scored a whopping 91.30 points and secured her a third place along with a Paris 2024 ticket.
After wiping away the tears, she managed a hesitant smile before making a V sign with her fingers and saying confidently, “Victory”.
Tokyo 2020 champion Charlotte Worthington was less confident about her result. After finishing 10th in Budapest with 83.34 points and 12th in Shanghai, the British rider remains in limbo about her Olympic future.
While Worthington was not able to secure a ticket via the Olympic Qualifier Series, she is hoping the British women's team result at the 2023 UCI BMX Freestyle World Championships could secure her a spot. She is also focusing on the positives from the competition in Budapest.
"This has been the best competition that I've had in a while," Worthington said. "Shanghai was not the best for me and there was a lot of lessons from there. I felt like I've rectified some of them here, but personally, I'm very proud of my mental strength out there, especially after the last year. So huge wins for me, and sometimes the win isn't always first place and this also isn't the final destination or the final show."
Roberts and Diehm's boxing match and tattoo face-off
It was not only tears shed in the park on Saturday. Diehm was in a cheerful mood even before she secured her Paris 2024 ticket. Warming up next to the course, the Australian threw a couple of friendly air punches at Roberts and Benegas who were also getting ready for their runs.
"That was me getting out the nerves. It's known as a classic boxing kangaroo," she explained. "But we're all just best of friends and we support each other.
"It is the most fun of sports. Not one of, it is the most (fun). And the culture of the community, we're all best friends. We all support (each other). It's like a massive family and when we all come away on these trips, we have the best of fun."
Diehm finished the competition with 90.86 points and was happily showing off her tattoos while waiting for news about her Paris 2024 ticket – written signs for her parents, the Olympic rings on her right arm, and a cluster of animals, including a tiger, on her back.
Roberts readily matched Diehm’s tattoo collection. The USA rider and her three sisters have a tradition of getting matching tattoos. The two they have so far are a native bird of Chile that they got after Roberts won the 2023 Pan American Games, and a triangle after the champion athlete moved back home.
In Paris, the sisters are planning to make an addition.
"They want me to, after the event, to sneak out of the (Athletes) Village. They want me to sneak out of the village and go get an Eiffel Tower tattoo," said Roberts who already has tattoos, much to the disappointment of her parents. "They don't like tattoos. They hate tattoos actually. They are not a fan that I have my entire leg done.
"Now my sisters want the Eiffel Tower tattoo and I'm running out of space."
While they may not agree on tattoos, Roberts said what she is most looking forward to at Paris 2024 is competing in front of her extended family. Her parents, sisters and three nephews - aged one, eight and 13 - are all coming to watch her compete in Place de la Concorde. The nephews have never seen her compete in real life while her older sister has only seen her compete when Roberts was a young girl.
"We're just thankful that we can go again together, experience our second Olympics together again," Roberts said. "If I could medal and just be able to celebrate that with my family would be such an unforgettable memory that I'm extremely excited for."
OQS Budapest BMX Freestyle Park women's final - Results
- Hannah Roberts (USA) – 93.48
- Perris Benegas (USA) – 91.92
- Sun Jiaqi (CHN) – 91.30
- Deng Yawen (CHN) – 90.96
- Natalya Diehm (AUS) – 90.86
- Nikita Ducarroz (SUI) – 87.26
- Lara Marie Lessmann (GER) – 86.36
- Laury Perez (FRA) – 86.25
- Queen Saray Villegas Serna (COL) – 85.41
- Charlotte Worthington (GBR) – 83.34
- Kim Lea Muller (GER) – 78.00
- Macarena Perez Grasset (CHI) – 75.30
Click here to see a full list of the results
How to watch all the Olympic Qualifier Series action from Budapest
The action from Budapest will be streamed live, for free, and without subscription to a worldwide audience on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app for Paris 2024.
You can also catch up on the latest news, features, reports and updates from the ground with daily articles on Olympics.com.
