From learning the tricks of freestyle BMX cycling on YouTube in his native Colombia to an Olympic diploma in Paris.
Originally from a country that lacks a professional track, Colombian rider Queen Saray Villegas was one step away from the podium in the women’s park category final at the Olympic Games.
The first Colombian Olympic athlete in the history of this specialty came in fourth place after scoring 88.00 points in her second routine on Wednesday at the La Concorde venue. China’s Yawen Deng led the competition with 92.60, followed by American Perris Benegas (90.70) and Australian Natalya Diehm (88.80).
“I had never dreamed of this. I thought it was impossible, but here I am, proud to have the opportunity to represent Colombia and be among the top five for the first time with a Colombian freestyle team,” said the 21-year-old Buga native.
“Wenchi”, as she is nicknamed, started racing BMX at the age of 13, inspired by her fellow countryman Mariana Pajón, but then turned to freestyle in the El Vergel park in her hometown, alongside her twin sister Liz Surley.
Since this event is not very popular in their country, the sisters learned the first tricks through video tutorials posted on YouTube. Then their father built them a ramp out of recycled material in the backyard of their house so they could practice.
In the final, Villegas was nervous and closed the first round with a low score of 64.80 points.
“I couldn’t do the tricks, I didn’t want to take any risks in the second round. I did what I had to do. For the next Games I will do the tricks I wanted to try in this competition,” he said.
Villegas hopes that the Olympic diploma will help raise the profile of this sport in his country.
“In Colombia we don’t have a track. We want to support athletes more. There are very talented athletes on the streets, we have to keep raising the bar.”
