South Bend’s Hannah Roberts tops freestyle BMX qualifying at Paris Olympics

PARIS (AP) — Five-time world champion Hannah Roberts of the United States topped qualifying in the freestyle BMX competition at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, while reigning gold medalist Charlotte Worthington of Britain failed to advance to the finals. Roberts took silver behind her when the discipline made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games.

Roberts, a native of South Bend, Indiana, will be joined in the finals Wednesday by U.S. teammate Perris Benegas, though her stiffest competition could come from the two Chinese riders.

In the men’s competition, Britain’s Kieran Reilly was the top qualifier with a two-run average of 91.21 points. Marcus Christopher of the U.S. was second and defending Olympic champion Logan Martin of Australia third.