Glorious Gaynor has a silver lining as Hackney trio shine at BMX World Challenge
Hackney BMX club riders Theia Gaynor, Tai Suleyman Jr and Phoebe Gaynor represented GB at the UCI BMX World Challenge in Belgium - Credit: Archant
Hackney BMX club riders impressed at the UCI World Challenge in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium at the weekend.
Competing against some of the elite riders on the planet, the east London outfit saw Theia Gaynor take the limelight in the girls' 12 category.
With 71 other riders to compete against, Gaynor finished on the podium in all of her motos, placing third, first and first.
And she then progressed through her knockout races with third place, second in the quarter-finals and another second place in the semi-final to secure a place in the final.
Placed on the outside in gate eight for the final, Gaynor roared off up the outside and by the second berm was up into third place and on the back wheel of Spanish rival Larissa Cabral Garcia.
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Showing excellent technique on the rhythm section, she exited the berm in second place and with just the last straight to go pulled away from the Spaniard.
But Colombian rival Nicole Foronda Castro held onto her lead, leaving Gaynor with a superb silver medal.
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Older sister Phoebe was also representing Great Britain at the event in the girls' 14 category, with 73 riders, and finished seventh, sixth and fourth in her motos but could not progress any further.
A third Hackney BMX youngster, Tai Suleyman Jr, was also in action in the boys' 16 category, with a mammoth 164 riders, and faced a very challenging set of motos against some very strong riders.
Suleyman managed a fifth and sixth in his first two outings and qualified in his third with a fourth place finish.
However, seventh place in his next race was not enough for him to progress further into the knockout phase.
Coach Jamie Vinall said: "We were very fortunate to have three outstanding riders representing GB at the World BMX over the past few days.
"The jewel in the crown was the performance from Theia. Everyone in the club was crossing fingers and wishing her well for the final. Our WhatsApp group was going nuts!"
