A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to three qualified cyclists in the BMX race. Quota places are allocated to the NOC, which selects the cyclists. There were 24 quota places available, allocated as follows:[1]
UCI nation ranking (17 places): The top two NOCs each earn three places. NOCs ranked third to fifth each earn two places. NOCs ranked sixth through 10th each earn one place. Each continent was guaranteed one place.
UCI elite individual ranking (three places): Outside Europe and Oceania, the highest-ranked NOC will secure a single quota place at the BMX continental championships for Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
2023 & 2024 World Championships (four place): The remaining four spots will be allocated to the top BMX riders competing at the 2023 UCI World Championships in Glasgow and at the 2024 Worlds in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Host place (one place): Host nation France was guaranteed one place.
Competition format
The competition was a three-round tournament, with quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. In each round, the cyclists raced around a 400 metres (1,300 ft) course with jumps and banked turns. The competition proceeded as follows:[2][3]
Quarterfinals: three heats of eight cyclists each. Each heat had three runs, using a point-for-place system (one point for the winner of a run, two points for second, etc.), with the lowest points over the three runs winning. The best six cyclists in each heat (12 total) advanced to the semifinals, and the riders ranked 13–20 move to a last chance qualifier. In the last-chance qualifier, those eight riders race one time, and the top-four finishers advance to the semifinals, while the others cyclists were eliminated.
Semifinals: two heats of eight cyclists each. Again there were three runs per heat, using the point-for-place system. The top four cyclists in each semifinal (eight total) advanced to the final; the others (eight cyclists) were eliminated. In both the quarterfinals and the semifinals, riders are reseeded for the next heat according to time. If two or more riders are equal in points at the end of three runs, the times will be used to break the tie.
Final: one final of eight cyclists. There was only a single run.
Schedule
The event will take place over two consecutive days.[4]
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