WA Institute of Sport scholarship athlete Lauren Reynolds crashed out in the semi finals of the World Cup event in the Netherlands this weekend as the World Championships and Olympic selections take focus.
Reynolds enterted the world cup event in excellent form, but such is make or break nature of BMX, her campaign was over before it had started in Papendal.
Reynolds won a maiden event on the US pro circuit earlier this month and finished second in qualifying in Papendal, to earn entry into the main draw for the World Cup event, before disaster struck in her semi final round.
US top ranked athlete Alise Post was leading the semi heading into the mid section third straight before a mistake saw her crash out, which seemed to affect the chasing field, with Reynolds mis-timing her approach through a series of mini jumps that saw her fall in an almost identical area of the course to the world number one.
Crashes however, are nothing new to BMX athletes, and Reynolds later posted a picture to her Instagram account to let fans know she was ok.
Reynolds’ Australian teammate Caroline Buchanan qualified through to the final, finishing second behind local favourite Laura Smulders.
Attention will now turn to this month’s World Championships which will be held in Medellin, Columbia from May 25-29.
These Championships will form a key part of the selection criteria for the Australian BMX team for August’s Olympic Games in Brazil, where Reynolds is eyeing a second Olympic campaign, after debuting in London in 2012.
