LONDON – Fil-American Danny Caluag finished 31st and last in the seeding run, but his slow clocking and last place finish is inconsequential for the last of the Filipinos hoping for a graceful exit from the 30th Olympic Games.
The 25-year-old Caluag timed 40.900 seconds, three seconds behind the fastest time of 37.77 by 25-year-old Raymon van der Biezen of the Netherlands, in the one-run seeding of the BMX competitions inside the Olympic Park.
Having the last choice in the gate selection order, Caluag will be eighth to choose – meaning he will settle for the slot in starting gate not chosen by the first seven riders.
The choice slot in the starting gate is usually the outer gate, where the rider has greater maneuverability from the top of the eight-meter ramp and in the bends following two table-tops.
With him in the third heat are – in the rank of their finish in the seeding – Joris Daudet of France (38.221 sec), Nicholas Long of the US (38.601), Mark Willers of New Zealand ((38.687), David Herman of the US (38.99), Manuel de Vicchi of Italy (39.385), Roger Rinderknecht of Switzerland (39.618) and Ernesto Pizarro of Argentina.
The six-foot, 21-year-old Daudet looms as the top favorite in the heat with his silver medal finish in the inaugural competition in Beijing in 2008. He was ranked No. 1 in the BMX Supercross World Cup last year, with one second-place and two third places and topping the UCI World Championships the same year.
The top four riders after the seeding race occupied the top post in the four heats for Thursday’s quarterfinal run.
“The position and time are not really important. It’s a question of being able to get a fast start and being able to finish first,” said Caluag. “Our aim is to finish among the top 2 or 3.”
The three others in the top 4 were seeded first in the other heats, with Van der Biezen in heat one, Connor Fields of the US in heat 2 and Van Gendt Twan of New Zealand in heat 4.
The top riders from each heat after three runs immediately qualify for the semifinals. Riders ranked fourth and fifth after five runs qualify next, while the rest will be eliminated.
The Philippines is the only Asian country in the event and is one of 11 countries represented by only one rider. With three each are Australia, France, the Netherlands and the US.
Latvia also had three riders but its third entry Edzus Treimanis did not finish and was eliminated.