First Brazilian to represent Brazil in BMX cycling free style In the Olympic Games, São Paulo native Gustavo Batista de Oliveira, better known by the nickname Bala Loka, made a great debut in Paris. Born in Carapicuiíba, in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, the 21-year-old athlete will compete in the final of the sport, which debuted in the Tokyo 2020 edition, without Brazilians.
Bala Loka had the eighth best score (85.79) among 12 competitors. Only the top nine advanced to the medal match, scheduled to take place at 9:44 am (Brasília time) on Wednesday (31). The Brazilian will be the second to appear in the final.
FLY, BULLET!
Let’s root for Gustavo Bala Loka in the grand final that will take place this Wednesday (31), starting at 9:44 am (Brasília time).
📸 Gaspar Nobrega/COB#TimeBrazil #Olympic Games pic.twitter.com/B0ik6wZBIE
— Time Brazil (@timebrasil) July 30, 2024
“I’m working hard, training to be in the final of the Olympic Games. I’ve already played in other important World Cup finals, but the Olympic Games are incredible. It’s 35, 40 degrees, very hot. Unintentionally, we wear all black, it’s a bit more intense. Even more so with all the protective equipment. It’s a bit of a hindrance, but to get to the final we do everything we can,” Gustavo revealed in a statement to the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB).
In the qualifying phase, Bala Loka scored 5.51 in the first round and 86.07 in the second, totaling 85.79 at the La Concorde 2 Arena, located inside an urban park in the French capital. The leader of the qualifying phase was the British Kieran Reilly (91.21 points), the only one who scored above 90 points in each round.
The score is a sum of evaluations that take into account the difficulty of the maneuvers and the height of the jumps, as well as the creativity and style of the presentations. The bike used by Bala Loka also caught the attention of the public.
“It’s Brazilian fauna, there are parrots, toucans, jaguars. A sticker that a friend of mine made. So much so that my helmet is modified with the Brazilian coat of arms and my name. It’s a special moment for me and everything has to be special,” explained the cyclist.
Making his Olympic debut, young Bala Loka has been collecting titles in BMX cycling free style. At the age of 15, he won a stage of the 2017 World Cup in China, in 2017. He won bronze in 2022 at the South American Games and, last year, he took an unprecedented bronze for Brazil at the Pan American Games in Santiago (Chile).
