Deng Yawen (Chinese: 邓雅文; pinyin: Dèng Yǎwén, born 17 October 2005) is a Chinese freestyle BMX cyclist and Olympic champion. She won the gold medal in the women's BMX freestyle event at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
 Deng Yawen in 2024 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Deng Yawen | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 17 October 2005 Luzhou, Sichuan, China | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Country |  China | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Freestyle BMX | ||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Daniel Dhers | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career
editAt eight years old, Deng joined the Luzhou Amateur Athletic School's track and field team, where she participated in javelin. She began BMX freestyle in 2017, at age 12.[1]
She finished second at the 2021 Chinese National Games and third at the 2022 Chinese Championships. In 2023, she made her international debut and won a gold medal at the Asian Championships and finished sixth at the 2023 UCI BMX Freestyle World Championships.[2] In October 2023, she won the UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup in Bazhong ahead of world champion Hannah Roberts.[3] She is coached by Daniel Dhers.[4]
2024 Olympics
editIn early 2024, she was selected to compete at the 2024 Olympic Qualifier Series.[5] During the first leg of the qualifier series in Shanghai, she finished in third place with a score of 91.50.[6] During the second leg of the qualifier series in Budapest, she finished in fourth place with a score of 90.96.[7] As a result, she qualified to represent China at the 2024 Summer Olympics.[8]
In the women's BMX freestyle event, where she was the youngest competitor, she won a gold medal with a score of 92.60, ahead of American Perris Benegas and Australian Natalya Diehm.[9][10] Deng Yawen was the only cyclist to score more than 90 points in all her four runs, including qualification and final. She became the first Chinese to win a medal in the event and the first to capture gold.
Competitive history
editAll results are sourced from the Union Cycliste Internationale.
As of August 6th, 2024
Olympic Games
edit| Event | Freestyle Park |
|---|---|
| Gold |
UCI Cycling World Championships
edit| Event | Freestyle Park |
|---|---|
| 6th |
UCI BMX Freestyle Park World Cup
edit| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | DIR — |
MON 5 |
BRU — |
BAZ 1 |
17 | 720 |
| 2024 | ENO 3 |
MON — |
SHA |
9 | 820 |
References
edit- ^ Zhiwen, Shen (18 June 2024). "Chinese BMX Freestyle rider Deng Yawen: Positive competition aids mutual progress". olympics.com. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ "Deng Yawen". olympics.com. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ "2023 UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup: Hannah Roberts and Logan Martin claim the overall titles". uci.org. 16 October 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ Binner, Andrew (18 May 2024). "Olympic silver medallist Daniel Dhers: "Coaching the Chinese women's team motivates me too"". olympics.com. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ Binner, Andrew (28 February 2024). "Here are the athletes that will compete in BMX freestyle at the Olympic Qualifier Series". olympics.com. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ Binner, Andrew (18 May 2024). "Near-perfect Sun Sibei wins women's BMX Freestyle Park at OQS Shanghai". olympics.com. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ Smirnova, Lena (22 June 2024). "OQS winner Hannah Roberts sets sights on new matching tattoo of Parisian landmark, but still looking for Olympic ring sunglasses". Olympics.com. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ De Clercq, Geert (29 July 2024). "Olympics-China targets BMX Freestyle for women's medals". srnnews.com. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ "BMX-China's Deng takes gold in women's freestyle". Reuters. 31 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
- ^ "Deng Yawen of China wins freestyle BMX gold, 5-time world champ Hannah Roberts of US crashes out". Associated Press. 31 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.