By Hiroki Noda,
Japanese freestyle BMX rider Rimu Nakamura finished the men's park in fifth place for the second consecutive Olympics on Wednesday.
Nakamura was in third after the first of his two runs, but his rivals came up with big scores in their second runs at the urban sports park built at Place de la Concorde in the heart of Paris.
Argentina's Jose Torres Gil claimed gold after no other rider was able to top his first-run score of 94.82 points, 0.91 ahead of reigning world champion Kieran Reilly of Britain.
France's Anthony Jeanjean rounded out the podium with 93.76. He fell in his first run and stood last at that point, but went big on his final opportunity to jump up the rankings.
In what the medalists described as the best men's BMX freestyle final ever, Nakamura's 90.89 points were not enough for a podium spot.
"I thought, 'oh no, not fifth again'...," the 22-year-old from Kyoto said. "I'm disappointed that I couldn't get a medal. But I got my new tricks done. I brought confidence over here, so I have no regrets."
One trick he threw successfully was a backflip tailwhip-to-tailwhip, which he began to work on about a year ago.
In park BMX, riders fly off obstacles of various shapes and sizes while executing a series of spectacular tricks.
While the two-run average was used in the previous day's 12-man qualification, only the best of two 60-second runs counted in the nine-man final.
"So much feeling, it's hard to explain," newly crowned Olympic champion Torres Gil said. "It's crazy that I am here at the Olympics, the biggest competition on the planet -- I know I had to come here and give it my all."
"It means everything, my life -- all the work from my life -- four years working with the team."
Australia's Logan Martin, who captured gold when the discipline made its Olympic debut in Tokyo three years ago, finished last.
Earlier in the day, China's Deng Yawen won the women's park gold. Perris Benegas of the United States earned silver and Australia's Natalya Diehm took bronze.
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