History made, repeated in BMX finals
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mariana Pajon earned the second gold medal in Colombia's history and Latvia's Maris Strombergs repeated as Olympic champion Friday as BMX action at the London Games concluded.
Pajon, 20, won the women's final with a dominating ride. She got off to a good start, then was first across the line with a lap of 37.706 seconds.
New Zealand's Sarah Walker also used a good start to set herself up for a good finish, and trailed Pajon by 0.427 seconds for silver. The Netherlands' Laura Smulders took bronze.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pajon's victory represented just the second gold medal in her country's Olympic history. Maria Isabel Urrutia won the women's 75kg weightlifting class at the 2000 Sydney Games.
Like Pajon, Strombergs got out of the gate quickly and was never in poor position in turns. He handled the course's features well and held off the field to take gold again.
Strombergs captured the medal four years ago in Beijing during BMX's first Olympics appearance. He has two of Latvia's three gold medals all-time.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Australian Sam Willoughby was 0.353 seconds slower than Stromberg's lap of 37.576 seconds. Carlos Mario Oquendo Zabala gave Colombia another medal by claiming bronze.
Connor Fields finished seventh to end a disappointing day for the United States.
He had been turning in fast lap times and won two semifinal runs earlier Friday. But in the final, he came out of the gate behind the field and never caught up. He crashed after his wheel was clipped in the final corner.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The only American in the women's final, Brooke Crain, came in last.