The USA’s Alise Willoughby and France’s Joris Daudet each won their third BMX racing world title in Rock Hill, South Carolina, securing spots for their countries at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Married to former Australian rider Sam Willoughby, the silver medalist from Rio 2016, Willoughby stunned the home fans by winning at Rock Hill a second time, to go along with her victories in 2017 and 2019.
The 33-year-old took the lead right away and defeated American Daleny Vaughn and Zoe Claessens of Switzerland. Her sixth World Championship BMX racing medal came from this triumph.
Daudet defeated the current Olympic champion, Niek Kimmann of the Netherlands, and is a strong candidate for Paris 2024. With this most recent victory, Daudet has won twelve medals in fourteen years, including two golds from the 2011 and 2017 European BMX Championships. Daudet’s plan to lead from the first corner worked at Rock Hill, and he hopes to improve on his Tokyo 2020 seventh-place result.
The World Championships were held in the United States for the first time since 2023. In the past, the tournament was mostly held in Europe, with a few out-of-region events held in places like Argentina.
