Maris Strombergs, of Latvia, successfully defended his Olympic men’s BMX title in London yesterday.

Australian Sam Willoughby finished second for the silver with Carlos Oquendo, of Colombia, taking the bronze.

Strombergs claimed the maiden Olympic men’s BMX gold when the sport made its debut in Beijing four years ago.

And despite coming up against a handful of younger riders who had shown their mettle in the unforgiving quarter-finals and semi-final races, the Latvian stepped up when it mattered most.

He shot off the eight-metre high ramp and had quickly built a slight lead on the rest of the eight-man field.

Willoughby was hot on his heels but with several jumps and berms to negotiate, neither rider was free of danger.

British gold medal hope Liam Phillips came down on the penultimate berm and struggled to rejoin the field after he could not clip his foot back on to his pedal.

It left hosts Great Britain without a medal as only minutes earlier Shanaze Reade could only finish in sixth place in the women’s final at the same venue.

Despite Willoughby’s late fightback on the closing bumps Strombergs held on to triumph.

Meanwhile, Mariana Pajon, of Colombia, won gold in the women’s BMX final after finishing ahead of New Zealand’s Sarah Walker and Dutchwoman Laura Smulders.

Pajon, who started from gate four, burst down the start ramp and took the lead from the outset on the 440m women’s circuit and was never in danger of being overtaken.

British gold medal hope Reade lost ground midway through the race and eventually finished sixth, one place behind Australia’s Caroline Buchanan.