Maligno Torres suffered a blow that prevented him from winning the World Cup: silver medal

Jose Maligno Torres It closed an unforgettable 2024. The winner of the gold medal in Paris reached second place in the World Cup BMX freestyle held in Abu Dhabi. He could have gotten first place, but in his usual aggressive style, always on the limit, he suffered a hard fall.

“It was a dream this year,” he warned. the cyclist from Córdoba, born in Bolivia, who was behind the Australian Logan Martin and ahead of the American Justin Dowell. In search of a perfect score, On the second pass he suffered a spectacular fall which cost him first place.

The star of this style of cycling, 29 years old, started the first heatwith an ideal score. In fact, Maligno registered 91.10 points and was provisionally at the top of the table, backed by the tricks performed that led him to his first World Cup. Magic in the heights, like in the Paris Olympic Games, when it paralyzed a country.

However, Australian Logan Martin he surpassed it on his second pass at execute the tricks perfectly and totaled 94.30. With the conviction of wanting to regain the lead, the Olympic champion went all out to improve his score, since he had no other chances. But something went wrong. At the beginning of his last performance, he headed to the ramp to execute the turns: When landing, he fell and lost control of the bicycle. It was a real blow to the illusion.

Torres acknowledged that the last competition of the year was not easy for him, since the hard fall had a double negative consequence. His bike broke and he ended up injured. “We had very bad classifications because the tire exploded, I changed bikes, I continued, but I was lucky because my first round was very good and we managed to qualify, almost last,” he recalled, about the start of the competition.

Later, he detailed: “I managed to enter the final third, everything was going very well. I did my first round, I was second, and I knew I was very tired, but I wanted to try if I could get first place. It was very difficult, because the one who won is very good. I tried, but I died trying. The trick was very complicated, I fell very hard. I have a Titanium handlebar, which I’m testing, and it broke. And I think my finger…broke too.”

Beyond second place in the World Cup, fatigue and injury, for El Maligno 2024 it will always be in his heart. “I always dreamed of having a world medal, apart from the Games, I needed a world medal. It was always difficult, because the level is very high. Today I am blessed and lucky to achieve the silver medal. It makes me happy because we worked for this for many years and I can close my year with a world medal. Although I am injured now, but it was worth it”.

And he showed all his emotions. “It was a dream this year, It was very difficult, because it is a lot of nerves, a lot of pressure, a lot of anxiety, a lot of frustration. But it was all worth it, every day we worked with the team was worth it. It was a dream come true, achieving an Olympic medal, a world medal. The truth is that I am very happy, I really want to return home and be able to relax a little,” commented the man from Córdoba, part of an unthinkable controversy. The Olimpia de Oro, delivered last Thursday, did not go into his hands.

Beyond the merits of Dibu Martínez and Franco Colapinto, social networks exploded due to their absence from the big table of sports awards that are usually awarded at the end of each season. Days ago, the winner of the Olimpia de Plata, with the lead in the Abu Dhabi World Cup, made a publication with a cut on his lip, which he suffered precisely in the competition, as a sign of effort in 2024.

Without the massiveness of football or motorsports, What Torres achieved in Paris was historic. The BMX Freestyle champion won the 22nd gold medal for Argentina, and in a year, exactly Olympic, that he did not at least share the highest award caused some indignation.

The impact was such that he himself Argentine Olympic Committee (COA) He expressed his surprise at what happened at the Olimpia Awards on his social networks. And he signed: “The Circle of Sports Journalists presented the Olympia Awards to highlight the athletes who had the best performance during the year.

The election of the Olimpia de Oro fell on the goalkeeper of the national soccer team Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez and the motorist Franco Colapintowho received statuettes after winning their respective shortlists.

But the surprise was that José “Maligno” Torres, who in Paris 2024 won the Gold Medal in BMX Freestyle cycling, had not been recognized in the same way, achieving gold for our country after 8 years without that precious medal in an Olympic Game. , becoming the most outstanding Olympic athlete of the year.”

Aside from all kinds of controversy, Maligno achieved a creditable second place in the World Cup. And it closed a year of collection.