Kiwi BMX rider Rebecca Petch has bowed out of the women's BMX in the semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics.
Petch was in the hunt to make the final with the top four from each semi-final of seven advancing.
The Kiwi had done enough to sit tied for fourth heading into her final run after finishing sixth and fourth in the previous two races.
Unfortunately, a sixth-place finish in the final race saw her finish sixth overall, two points outside the top four.
It comes after Petch showed plenty of grit and spirit to overcome a hard fall in her first heat yesterday to qualify for the semi-finals.
Petch was sitting third halfway through the race when her attempt to round a bend on the Tokyo course went wrong, with the 23-year-old being flung forward over her handlebars.
The Kiwi rider was slow to get up from the incident but showed her fighting spirit and finished the race with a time of 2:01.322.
"I felt quite good, but coming into the second corner I was too eager and got on the pedals too early and hit the concrete and went over the bars," Petch said in hindsight.
“It was not a great start. With a good support crew around me they got me back on my feet and kept my hopes high. I didn’t come to the Olympics just to do one race. I just went all-out and forgot that my shoulder was sore, concentrated on my gate and the things I could control, and it worked for me.”
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