TOKYO, July 30 (EFE) .- Ariac Urban Sports Park saw Colombian cyclist Mariana Bajan’s third consecutive Olympic medal in BMX this Friday.

The silver he won at Ariak Park in the Japanese capital was delayed after the gold he won in London 2012 and Rio 2016 because the start of the tournament was delayed this morning by heavy rain in Tokyo.

Born in Medellin 29 years ago and initially nicknamed the ‘Atomic Ant’ by the children she competed in because of her height of 1.58m and her agility on the track, she is now three Olympic medalists and less than a tenth of a three-time champion.

Bajaj confirmed that he has wings on his way to Tokyo and although he has already won everything in the BMX world there is no end to his stage dreams.

The ‘BMX Queen’ is very lucky for this third medal because she would have been in the worst position in last year’s joust if not for the Covit-19.

“I’m not going to reach 100 percent physically for the Olympics, that’s a fact. I’m not going to reach halfway, but there are some missing steps to achieving a competitive position as I always wanted to,” Bajan told EFE in 2020. When it is known that matches are postponed due to infection.

But Colombia regained its best position, closing the Olympic cycle at the top of the UCI rankings and finishing its production last May by winning the third and fourth leg of the BMX World Cup in Bogot.

In this discipline, Colombia was represented at the Tokyo Games by Bajaj’s husband, French nationalized Colombian Vincent Bellard, and bronze medalist Carlos Rameres in Rio de Janeiro five years ago and again today in Tokyo.

The love that Mariana claims for the game runs through the family.

His father Carlos Mario studied motor racing, his mother Claudia Landono was a professional horse rider and his brothers Miguel, now his manager was a kart racer and Daniel trained for BMX.

Continue reading the story

Her interest in adrenaline has always been with her competing against children older than her.

Not even a broken collar at the age of 5 dropped her when she ran on a pink bike with Barbie stickers, despite the risks she posed despite her family members voting to quit the game.

With patience, discipline and constant training in the North to overcome further difficulties, teacher Bajan was honing himself.

She achieved her first success in Argentina, in 2000, when she was only 9 years old, the only woman in the competition.

“I like BMX because I can feel the joy of cycling, I feel the same way about life,” he always says when asked about the origin of his love for the sport. The starter and his expressive black eyes only aim at the target in the starter.

“Beginning in 2008, when I learned that cycling would be included as an Olympic sport, I began to depress myself. My dream is to win an Olympic medal,” Bajan said without hesitation.

So, without a doubt for a second, BMX won its first Olympic gold medal in London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016, the world’s number one, and in Colombia, it showed the world apart from footballers, boxers and weightlifters, there was also the gold mine of bikers.

Mariana simply wears BMX on her skin. As shown on his right wrist tattooed with the five-color rings that symbolize the Olympics, he began to create in his mind from 2008 and today in Tokyo 2020 they have come true for the third time.

(C) EFE Company

You will like it too

How to raise an Olympian: Annia Hatch, an extraordinary gymnast

Check it out here Full medal table From the Tokyo Olympics