Für unsere Gäste » r last season, skipped a slalom at Levi, Finla

RIO DE JANEIRO -- BMX racing is growing up at the Summer Olympics.Its that extreme sport where cyclists pedal on bikes over a roughly quarter mile-long course filled with bumps, hills and sharp twists.Lots of action in a race that lasts about 40 seconds. A sport aimed at younger audiences.It is also now filled with a generation of elite riders who have been at it since BMX became an Olympic medal event in Beijing in 2008.Most people in London (at the 2012 Games) were young like me, or 19, 20, so we grew up and stayed at a good level in BMX, said 25-year-old reigning world champion Joris Daudet of France.Now many of those same racers are back at the colorful track in Rio de Janeiro , creating a deep field of experienced riders.On the mens side, the United States features a team that includes 2012 Olympians Connor Fields and Nic Long, and 2012 alternate Corben Sharrah. Australias Sam Willoughby is back after taking silver four years ago.Latvias Maris Strombergs is back to win a third straight gold. At 29, hes a BMX sage.Everybody is focused on this event. Everybody has the experience, too, Daudet said. He had the top time of 34.617 seconds during the mens seeding runs on Wednesday to earn the top seed in the quarterfinals on Thursday.Colombias Mariana Pajon is off to a fast start in defense of her Olympic title, earning the top seed in the womens draw with a time of 34.508 seconds on a warm, muggy afternoon. The women next race on Friday.Australias Caroline Buchanan and the United States Alise Post are other medal favorites who raced in London, and U.S. rider Brooke Crain is also a returnee. Theyre all getting pushed by younger riders who watched them compete four years ago.Its definitely made it a lot more interesting in racing, Post said.BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross, traces its roots to the late 1960s and early 1970s in Southern California. Besides racing, there is also freestyle BMX in which cyclists ride ramps and perform tricks on their bikes.But racing is the discipline that has taken hold at the Olympics. Over the years, its grown from niche activity to X-Games event to an Olympic medal sport.Yeah, people dont ask if we do back flips anymore, Buchanan said. Were not the BMX bandits of the Beijing Games, the first-timers.BMXs inclusion into the Olympics eight years ago prompted other countries to create programs to develop riders. In the cases of smaller nations like Latvia and Colombia, more attention might be paid to a rider once he or she achieves a level of success.The field this year is deeper than ever, Fields said. Another top medal contender is the Netherlands Niek Kimmann, 20, who won time trials at the worlds in May.Now all over the world, Fields said, you have guys who are 18 to 21 years old who are graduates of their respective countrys development program, which is something that in 2008 or 2012, you wouldnt have gotten that same sort of pathway.The United States is consistently a top contender, though cycling in general has not been a top funding priority for the U.S. Olympic Committee, regardless of discipline.That means more international riders have caught up to the U.S cyclists. International World Cup races, in turn, have become more competitive in recent years.That BMX has stuck around for three Olympics is a positive sign for action sports in general. The 2020 Games will add three more action sports to the lineup to attract younger audiences: climbing, skateboarding and surfing.Consider BMX a trailblazer for the growth.One of the few action sports in the Summer Olympic Games, and a good sign that action sports is strong for 2020 now in Tokyo, Buchanan said. So from an action-sports side of things, I think its super positive for the Summer Games.---Online:AP Summer Games site: http://summergames.ap.org/---Follow Genaro Armas at: https://twitter.com/GArmasAP Ryan Izzo Jersey . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. Gunner Olszewski Jersey . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. 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VAL DISERE, France -- Mathieu Faivre led a fierce French challenge on first-run leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria to win a giant slalom on Sunday for his first World Cup victory.Faivre secured the fastest second run to beat Hirscher, the five-time defending World Cup overall winner and a Val dIsere specialist, by 0.49 seconds.France placed four racers in the top five, roared on by a noisy crowd that sang the French anthem -- La Marseillaise -- when an emotional Faivre stood on the top step of the podium.Faivre had 0.01 to make up from the first leg, and the 24-year-old racers debut victory denied Hirscher a fifth GS win on this course since 2009.France team leader Alexis Pinturault was third, trailing 1.11 behind the winner. Teammates Thomas Fanara and Victor Muffat-Jeandet placed fourth and fifth.Hirscher has now lost to two Frenchmen in defense of his season-long giant slalom trophy after being runner-up to Pinturault in the season-opening race at Soelden, Austria.Faivre, a former world junior champion, has had three podium finishes in World Cup giant slalom in 2016 and Pinturault was alongside him each time.In what has become the France teams top event, its streak of placing at least one racer in the top-3 of mens giant slalom now extends to 14 World Cup races since March 2015.France also got its only Alpine skiing medals at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games in mens GS, when Steve Missillier and Pinturault took silver and bronze behind Olympic champion Ted Ligety.ddddddddddddLigety led a five-strong United States challenge on Sunday in 11th, 2.63 back. He had been the only racer other than Hirscher to win a Val dIsere GS in recent years.In his return to racing amid a dispute with Norways ski federation, Henrik Kristoffersen was eighth, trailing by 2.38.Kristoffersen, the World Cup slalom winner last season, skipped a slalom at Levi, Finland, last month to protest being blocked from wearing the helmet of a personal sponsor. The dispute is due in court.Hirscher restored some Austrian pride after the teams embarrassing showing in downhill on Saturday, when the traditional Alpine power placed no one in the top 15.He now leads the overall standings after just five races of the season. Kjetil Jansrud of Norway had been tied with Hirscher atop the overall standings but did not finish the first run Sunday after winning the downhill and super-G this weekend.Frances strong showing Sunday was fair reward for Val dIsere stepping in to host the three-race meeting at short notice. It was cancelled at Beaver Creek, Colorado, because of a lack of snow and warm temperatures.The mens circuit stays in Val dIsere next weekend when the highlight of two regularly scheduled races is a giant slalom on Saturday. ' ' '