KEY POINTS:
BEIJING - It was hardly how Marc Willers imagined his Olympics ending.
Battered and bruised, he limped along under the baking Beijing sun mulling over what went wrong today.
After all, the New Zealander was ranked fifth in the world in BMX cycling and seeded second for his three semifinal heats.
But as BMX got its first chance on the biggest stage, it showed how random and cut throat it can be. And then there's the pressure.
On run No 1 Willers crashed on the first turn, then as he got going again he was rammed by another bike before finishing seventh.
After two runs he had another seventh to his name, then on his final chance he misjudged the humps and flew over his handlebars. That equated to a did not finish.
"It's one hell of an experience," Willers said.
"The competition, it's just crazy, the pressure. It's a whole new experience for everybody, just trying to sort it through your head," he said.
"It's do or die. Everyone's seen the crashes. I was amazed there weren't more in that final race. I thought that first turn they were all going to come down."
Cambridge rider Willers, 22, emerged from his multiple skirmishes with what he described as a corked thigh, and he also lost some skin.
"I've got no idea how, it just hurts."
It hurt more inside, too, after Willers watched Latvian Maris Strombergs beat Americans Mike Day and Donny Robinson in the final at the Laoshan Moto Cross track.
Willers deliberately ignored the other Olympic sports, including New Zealand's medal rush last Saturday, to focus on his event.
Then rain postponed the semifinals, meaning another anxious 24 hours.
"Yesterday was a big burn, everyone's been building up for five years for that one day and then it rains so your brain just goes crazy.
"I did absolutely nothing, I sat at home. There were a lot of things going through the head but you've got to force yourself to stay positive. I thought I'd done it, but I guess not."
Still, he said he'd be back again, hopefully in London in 2012, better for the run.
New Zealand coach Ken Cools had plenty of sympathy for his charge, who'd performed at all the big BMX events.
"Marc was very unlucky in every round, he couldn't get to the finish line once whereas the other day he was outracing everybody, he finished second or third fastest.
"It just wasn't his day."
- NZPA
