Canada's Tory Nyhaug, second from left, races in the semi-final men's BMX at the 2016 Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Friday, Aug. 19, 2016.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Canada's Tory Nyhaug settled for a fifth-place finish on Friday in the men's BMX final at the Rio Olympics.
A poor start in the eight-man race proved costly for the 24-year-old from Coquitlam, B.C.
Nyhaug pedalled furiously to gain some ground and passed a couple riders entering the final turn. However, the deficit was too much and Nyhaug could only watch the front-runners cross the line ahead of him.
The Canadian finished in 35.674 seconds, less than two-10ths of a second away from a medal.
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"I got caught in some traffic and tried to find a way," Nyhaug said. "There are guys battling everywhere. It was a tough lap. But I came out of here healthy and with a fifth (place result), so I'll look back on this and be proud even though I didn't get a medal."
American Connor Fields won gold in 34.462 and Jelle van Gorkom of the Netherlands earned silver in 35.316. Colombia's Carlos Alberto Ramirez Yepes captured bronze in 35.517.
Earlier in the day, Nyhaug struggled to a sixth-place finish in his opening semifinal run. He rebounded to take third in the next two runs and qualified for the final by finishing third overall in his heat.
Mariana Pajon won gold in the women's race to the delight of a vocal contingent of flag-waving Colombian supporters at the BMX Olympic Centre.
American Alise Post took silver and Stefany Hernandez of Venezuela won bronze. Canada did not have an entry in the women's competition.
Nyhaug won silver at the 2014 world championship. He was 18th in his Olympic debut at the 2012 London Games.