Kiwi cyclist Trent Jones, left, competes in the men's BMX semifinals. Photo / AP
New Zealand' sole BMX representative in Rio, Trent Jones, has missed out on a chance to contest the medals after a crash in the second run of his semifinal.
The 22-year-old made a promising start to his semifinal, finishing third in the opening race.
Jones looked strong again early in
the second run and was sitting in fourth position until he miscued a jump on the second turn and crashed heavily. Venezuela's Jefferson Milano then rode into a prone Jones as he lay on the track, but the Oceania champion was able to pick himself up and remount his damaged bike and ride it across the line to finish seventh.
The earlier crash seemed to dent Jones' confidence and the battered and bruised Kiwi didn't feature in the third race. He trailed the field out of the start gate before making a place up by the finish but ended with 17 points - five off what he needed to finish in the top four and make the final.
Jones said he was disappointing with the result having made such a promising start.
"It's a bitter pill to swallow, I haven't achieved what I wanted to do here, but I showed I have got the fight," he said.
