Zoé Claessens is the first Swiss Olympic medal winner in BMX racing. The 23-year-old from Vaud wins bronze. Cédric Butti finished fourth, just short of the medal.
After Claessens had held back in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, the two-time European champion and World Championship silver medallist only had to concede defeat to the dominator Sakakibara and Great Britain's Bethany Shriever in the all-important single final run.
In the men's event, Cédric Butti was ten hundredths short of a medal. The man from Thurgau finished fourth, beaten by three Frenchmen. The second Swiss finalist, Simon Marquart, finished seventh after a collision in one of the banked turns.
Gold, silver and bronze went to Joris Daudet, Sylvain André and Romain Mahieu, who had finished in the top three places in the quarter and semi-finals.
Butti and Marquart remained in the top 4 in all heats and secured their place in the final with 4th and 5th places in the final standings.
Before Claessens, Butti and Marquart, no Swiss rider had ever made it to an Olympic final in BMX racing. Of the Swiss quartet, only Nadine Aeberhard was left hanging on Friday. The 22-year-old from Bern crashed in the first of three runs and did not make it past 6th place in the second. Her chances were thus shattered prematurely.
SDA