British star Kieran Reilly produced a brilliant second run at the BMX Freestyle Park World Championships final in Scotland to win his first global title after winning his first European Games title last month.
Aged just 11, Reilly landed a 720 over a spine then made his FISE debut in 2018 and has gone from strength-to-strength including a starring role in Drew Bezanson’s Uncontained 2019-winning team.
Early in 2022, Reilly went viral when he landed the world’s first-ever Triple Flair then claimed a 2022 European Championships silver medal in Munich before going one better this year at the Games in Poland.
This time around at the 2023 World Championships event held at Glasgow Green, the 22-year-old – who grew up performing tricks at the Leam Lane skatepark in Gateshead – scored 86.36 on his first run.
It was only enough to place him sixth behind Australian Logan Martin as well as American duo Justin Dowell and Daniel Sandoval with Croatia‘s Marin Ranteš wowing the crowd in fifth place.
After Ranteš scored 90.64 in the second run and Reilly’s compatriot Jude Jones (90.10) got the crowd on their feet with a brilliant score of 90.10, Reilly performed even better to bank a score of 95.80.
He then had a nervous wait as first American Nick Bruce scored a 93.90 for an eventual bronze, Japan‘s Rim Nakamura a 91.87 for fourth and Martin, whose 95.30 fell just short in silver with Ranteš ending in fifth.
“I got to a point when it was guaranteed a medal, but the difference to get a medal and the jersey is huge. It feels like a dream come true. For me its rare you come off a course and you feel 100% proud. It is a run I will remember forever. I have this, but Olympic gold is always going to be the goal I look forward to Paris.”
Reilly said:
Add comment