Marcus Christopher (born December 31, 2002) is an American professional freestyle BMX rider. He represented the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | December 31, 2002 Hartville, Ohio US | |||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Freestyle BMX | |||||||||||||||||
| Role | Rider | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life
editChristopher was born to Matt and Lori Christopher, and has a younger brother, Charlie. He attended Lake High School in Lake Township, Stark County, Ohio. He turned pro in 2016 at age 13.[1]
Career
editChristopher made his X Games debut at 16 years old in 2019. In May 2023, he won a bronze medal in BMX park in Japan.[2] In July 2023, during the Summer X Games in California he suffered a broken jaw and cheekbone when he overshot his landing spot on a transfer and crashed face-first to the ground. He underwent surgery and had his jaw wired shut for two weeks.[3] In June 2024, he competed at the 2024 Summer X Games in Ventura, California and won a gold medal in BMX park with a score of 95.66, finishing nearly five points ahead of silver medal winner Kevin Peraza.[4][5][6]
2024 Olympics
editIn December 2023, Christopher was selected to compete in the 2024 Olympic Qualifier Series.[7] During the second leg of the qualifier series in Budapest, he finished in second place with a score of 92.98.[8] As a result, he qualified to represent United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics where he was the youngest competitor in the field.[9][10] During the men's BMX freestyle event he finished in fourth place with a score of 93.11, just behind France's Anthony Jeanjean score of 93.76.[11] Christopher achieved the best result for United States in men's BMX freestyle at the Olympics.[12]
Competitive history
editAll results are sourced from the Union Cycliste Internationale.
As of August 8th, 2024
Olympic Games
edit| Event | Freestyle Park |
|---|---|
 2024 Paris
|
4th |
UCI Cycling World Championships
edit| Event | Freestyle Park |
|---|---|
 2022 Abu Dhabi
|
4th |
UCI BMX Freestyle Park World Cup
edit| Season | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | MON 5 |
BRU 4 |
GOL 4 |
3 | 2260 | |
| 2023 | DIR 2 |
MON 3 |
BRU 12 |
BAZ 5 |
4 | 2830 |
| 2024 | ENO 8 |
MON — |
SHA |
18 | 570 |
References
edit- ^ Harris, Andy (December 23, 2016). "Lake eighth-grader turns pro in BMX freestyle". The Repository. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ^ "Marcus Christopher". xgames.com. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ^ Weir, Josh (July 25, 2023). "BMX pro Marcus Christopher of Lake recovering after frightening fall at X Games California". The Repository. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ^ "Olympic BMX and Skateboard Preview & Coverage". xgames.com. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ^ "Men's BMX Park Final on the SONIC Park Course". xgames.com. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ^ Balint, Ed (July 3, 2024). "The comeback kid: Lake High School grad Marcus Christopher makes Olympics in BMX freestyle". The Repository. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ^ "Lake grad Marcus Christopher selected for IOC's Olympic Qualifier Series in BMX Freestyle". The Repository. December 20, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ^ "Marcus Christopher – USA – qualified second". Olympics.com. June 22, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ^ Palermo, Angelina (July 11, 2024). "USA Cycling Names 23 Athletes to the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team". usacycling.org. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ^ Bielik, Tim (July 25, 2024). "Which Northeast Ohio athletes will be competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics?". Cleveland.com. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
- ^ Haidet, Ryan (July 31, 2024). "Marcus Christopher of Canton narrowly misses medal after finishing 4th in BMX freestyle finals at 2024 Paris Olympics". WKYC. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
- ^ Palermo, Angelina (July 31, 2021). "HANNAH ROBERTS WINS SILVER IN BMX FREESTYLE'S OLYMPIC DEBUT AND FIRST MEDAL FOR TEAM USA IN CYCLING". USA Cycling. Retrieved August 8, 2024.