LONDON – Fil-American Danny Caluag visibly lacked the exposure in his demanding sport as he finished last in the quarterfinal heats and crashed out of the BMX cycling race dominated by Europe and the Americas Thursday afternoon (midnight in Manila) inside the Olympic Park.
The 25-year-old Caluag, ranked 87th in the world with only a handful of races in his buildup for the Olympics, occupied the least advantageous part of the starting gate, being dead last among 32 riders in the classification race a day earlier.
His slow start relegated him to the tail end of the eight-man race in the initial stage and crashed to the ground in a seven-man spill at the first bend when the second rider fell off his bike.
“I had some bruises all over my body but I tried not to (make these) affect my performance,” he said.” There’s a message I want to convey to (Filipino) kids, that whatever the distractions, they must focus on what they’re doing.”
He finished fifth in the first run, safe enough for a place in the semifinals where four from his heat will advance. American David Herman, who did not finish in that run, eventually took the fourth semis slot with a good finish in the last four runs.
The 5-7 Caluag, who at 170 pound appeared overweight for the sport of cycling, fared badly in the second run where he ended seventh and all but said goodbye to his semifinal bid when he finished sixth in the third run.
The format sends the top two riders – Marc Willers of New Zealand and Joris Daudet of France – to the semis, with the last two semifinal seats to be contested by the remaining six riders in the last two runs, counting the points in the first races. All 16 others are eliminated.
After three runs, Caluag was last in the third heat with 18 points, trailing Herman who had 15 after three runs despite getting 8 after a DNF (did not finish) in the first run. Herman made up for a DNF with a third place in the second run and fourth in the third.
With the field reduced to six with the entry of the top two to the semis, Caluag needed two first finishes to reach the round-of-16 semis. He finished fifth in the fourth run, making the last run inconsequential.
Herman was the third semifinalist with 18 points with Roger Rinderknecht of Switzerland taking the fourth berth also with 18.
American Nicholas Long, who was only one point behind with 16 points after three runs, finished 1-2 in the last two runs but was still out of it with 19 points.
“It wasn’t a good race, but at the end of the day I gave it my all,” Caluag said. “I gained some experience and I’m happy with that.”
The other semifinalists were among the top 10 in the world last year. From the fourth heat the qualifiers were world champion Willoughby of Australia, Van Gendt Twan (Netherlands), Maris Strombergs (Latvia) and Oquendo Zabala (Colombia).