Joris Daudet is one of the best BMX riders in the world.

However, the Frenchman has a very complicated history with the Olympics after two painful failures in London in 2012 and then in Rio in 2016. During the BMX competition which begins Thursday, July 29, he will try to break his curse in Tokyo.

The Olympic medal is the only reward missing from Joris Daudet's long list of achievements: twice world champion, twice European champion, five times French champion.

In 2015, the Frenchman had even gone to compete in the only professional BMX circuit on the planet, the USA BMX, and had surpassed the Americans on their own ground.

The Olympic Games are therefore the only competition that resists it.

Joris Daudet has multiplied the falls during his previous attempts, at the level of the semi-finals in London and the quarter-finals in Rio.

🚨 5 riders are officially selected for the Olympic Games of # Tokyo2020 in BMX Race!


👋 Welcome to Axelle Etienne, Manon Valentino, Sylvain André, Joris Daudet & Romain Mahieu 🇫🇷 # EnRoutePourTokyo # UneSeuleEquipe



đź”— https://t.co/KpTS8osJ5s pic.twitter.com/gzwI6fLHtc

- France Team (@EquipeFRA) June 8, 2021

However, he is one of the athletes for whom the postponement of the Tokyo Games for one year was beneficial: seriously injured at the 2019 world championships (wrist, collarbone and fractured ribs), he was only able to resume training at the start. 2020, and the competition in October.

Preparation in Florida

A native of Saintes, where he discovered BMX at the age of nine, this father has been living in the United States, California since 2013, where he races for the team of cycle manufacturer Chase.

He arrives in Tokyo perfectly prepared: "I moved to Florida three months ago to train in climatic conditions that look like here. So the preparation is good, the job is done, it remains to have fun and give the maximum, "he blurted out.

The Olympic Games come in the middle of the BMX season, punctuated by the stages of the World Cup.

And Joris Daudet is in good shape.

At the end of May, the Frenchman won in quick succession both rounds of the second stage of the World Cup in Bogota.

He is currently third in the general classification.

If he is spared from falls during the Olympics, the Californian by adoption could have as main opponent another French, Sylvain André, defending French champion and third in the last world in 2020. Twice replacing in London-2012 and Rio-2016, he knows that at 28, his chances of running in Paris-2024 are low.

“This is probably my last chance to make the Games, and now I know that I can do something and win a medal: without being pretentious, but just because I've done it before,” he said.

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR