Paris Olympics 2024: Natalya Diehm overcomes horror injury run to win bronze in BMX Freestyle final

BMX rider Natalya Diehm has overcome a horror run of injuries to take home Australia’s first-ever women’s freestyle medal in the sport, holding on to win bronze in a thrilling final.

Diehm came into the 2021 Tokyo Games carrying a knee problem and had a major stroke of misfortune at the worst possible time in the final, tearing her ACL for the fifth time.

But she remarkably soldiered on to claim a fifth-placed finish.

Diehm said the injury had left her “heartbroken” and her journey since Tokyo had “definitely been hard”.

“At the Tokyo Games, in my mind I was thinking, ‘This is my last ride’,” she told Nine.

“I didn’t think I’d be able to come back or even be considered as a national rider anymore because of my injury list and it happening again.

“But I just came back and took it day by day and surgery by surgery and never lost sight of my dream of going to Paris.”

As well as repeated knee problems, Diehm has dealt with a lengthy list of other injuries, having also had two shoulder operations since Tokyo.

Diehm said she had dealt with some hard times — particularly during two weeks of isolation after returning from Tokyo — but did not “lose the fire of wanting to ride and compete again”.

“Especially with the knee injuries and people who know ACLs and have had that injury, they’re like, ‘What the hell? Why do you keep doing this?” she said.

“But I just absolutely love this sport, and I love the community of it and the self-satisfaction and the goals you set for yourself, and when you achieve them it’s unmatched … I’ve been doing it since I was eight years old, so I don’t know any different.

“It’s hard to be proud during the hard times, but now that I’m past it I am so proud of myself.

After impressing in her run featuring tail whips, bar spins, and front flips, Diehm was made to wait the rest of the field in order to see the final result.

After being knocked down to second by Perris Benegas from America, it came down to Hannah Roberts, the Tokyo silver medallist as the only one who could knock the Australian off.

However, she planted her feet on the ground early in her final run, ruling out a big enough score to usurp Diehm, giving her the bronze medal.

Diehm told Channel Nine after the final she was overjoyed from her effort.

“This is the first medal I’ve ever gotten in international competition, and what a better time than to do it at the Paris 2024 Olympics,” she said.

“Definitely a long time coming, I had that front flip in the bag for the last Olympics.

“As soon as I took off today, I knew this was the best run I’d ever done.”

Diehm also touched on her journey after the race, saying she hoped to provide inspiration to people battling mental health problems.

“There’s always light at the end of the tunnel when you feel like there’s not, keep pushing,” she said.

“I had full trust and full belief in myself and as long as you have that and you have hope, the world’s going to keep on spinning, every day’s going to keep on going, you’ll keep on getting better.

“Just always have the belief and trust in yourself and you can get anything done.”

Diehm’s mother Tamara said she was “overwhelmed with emotion” when she hugged her daughter with her bronze medal for the first time.

“Today, our whole family is just over the moon,” she said.

“She crushed it, she brought it home ... we are wrapped.”

China’s Yawen Deng claimed the gold, with Benegas taking home silver.

The medal is Australia’s second in the history of the sport, following Logan Martin’s gold in Tokyo.

Diehm looked in control throughout her runs, pulling out all the stops to put on a good score.

She was able to pull off front flips, back flips and tail whips across her efforts.

It paid off, with the Queenslander scoring 88.80 to sit in second after the first run.

Diehm was visibly pleased with her efforts, with her coaching staff and teammate Logan Martin giving their approval.

She couldn’t improve in her second run resulting in an agonising wait.

She was behind China’s Yawen Deng, but had put herself in contention to walk away with a medal.

USA’s Perris Benegas throughout a couple of bar spins, and took an unconventional path on the course to get more air time.

The run was rewarded by the judges, scoring a 90.70 to usurp Diehm in second.

Remarkably, Deng improved on her first run, performing double tail whips, and a back flip in her run.

It came down to the final run, with Roberts looking to redeem herself but the Tokyo silver medallist crumbled on the final run. It was agony for the American but elation for Diehm who held her arms aloft knowing the medal was hers.