American Willoughby, Frenchman Daudet win gold at 2024 UCI BMX World Championships
Rock Hill holds a special place in Alise Willoughby’s heart.
At the 2017 UCI BMX World Championships hosted at the Rock Hill BMX Supercross Track in Riverwalk, when her last name was still Post, the St. Cloud, Minnesota native won her first World Championship gold medal at the women’s elite championship level.
Saturday, seven years later, Willoughby won her third World Championship.
“I love competing in the U.S., so I really wanted to perform here,” Willoughby said. “It added a little extra pressure knowing that I’ve been able to do it before. And obviously, with the home soil and Olympic year, everyone’s going to be firing. I’m just really happy to execute. It means a lot.”
Riders from all over the world competed at the 2024 World Championships to secure a spot representing their country at the Paris Olympics this summer.
Another American rider who secured a spot in the 2024 Games was Daleny Vaughn.
The 23-year-old finished third in the women’s elite championship final, just over a second behind Willoughby. It will be Vaughn’s first Olympic appearance.
“It’s going to be exciting,” the Tuscon, Arizona-native said. “Just an unreal experience, and I’m excited to soak it all in.”
Frenchman Joris Daudet also secured his third career World Championship gold medal Saturday afternoon, his first since 2016. The victory sets up the 33-year-old with the opportunity in his home Olympics.
“It’s always good to get the confidence in winning big races like that, whether it’s a World Championship or the Olympics,” Daudet said. “It’s kind of the same level. Amazing day for me and a good confidence builder.”
The 2024 World Championships proved to be a war of attrition, as several riders didn’t finish their races due to crashing out on a bump or some of the tight turns on the track. Some races came down to whoever was left standing.
American PJ O’Brien can attest to this.
Coming out of the starting gate of the second heat in the Men’s Under-23 semifinal, O’Brien and fellow American Ethan Popovich were the last two riders heading into the first turn.
However, a major crash coming out of that turn turned the first- through sixth-place riders into a mangled bundle of bodies and bicycles, and O’Brien and Popovich sped past the group en route to a one-two finish in the heat.
That result booked the American duo’s spot into the final race, where O’Brien finished second and Popovich finished seventh.
“I knew something was going to go down in the semifinal,” O’Brien said. “I didn’t really pedal a lot down the hill, and it all just played into my favor. I just had to stay on my bike for the rest of the lap.”
“(During the final race), I totally reset. Didn’t even think about my gate in the semis. I knew what I was capable of, so I just went out there and gave it my all.”
Mark Sexton, who serves as the operation supervisor for the City of Rock Hill Parks, Recreation and Tourism department, said city officials chose to host the World Championships this year to serve as the final stop before the Paris Olympics.
City and event administrators were pleased with both the turnout and the overall structure of the event, and plans have already been discussed about hosting the event again in the future.
“You got 40-plus countries (represented at this event)... the road to the Olympics goes through Rock Hill, South Carolina,” Sexton said. “We have a town of 80,000 people, and our town just put on a show to the world from our volunteers, our community, our sponsors, our medical team, our security team. All those teams came together and put on what I think is one of the best shows that (UCI) could have.”
BMX racing at the Paris Olympics will begin with quarterfinals on Aug. 1.
