Connor Evan Fields (born September 14, 1992) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional

BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the earl ...

racer. He represented the United States at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in the men's BMX event and finished 7th overall. He represented the United States again at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in the men's BMX event. He won the gold medal in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, and became the first American to win an Olympic BMX gold. In the semifinals of the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

BMX event, Fields suffered a horrific crash off a jump heading into the first turn in the third run and failed to complete the trial. The

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

tweeted their best wishes for recovery to Fields and Australian cyclist

Saya Sakakibara Saya Sakakibara (born 23 August 1999) is an Australian cyclist competing in BMX Supercross events. Personal and early life Sakakibara was born in Australia to a mother of Japanese heritage and a father of British heritage. She started BMX raci ...

who was injured in a women's semifinals event the same day. Fields announced his retirement from the sport August 11, 2022.

Early life

Fields graduated from

Green Valley High School (Nevada) Green Valley High School is located in Henderson, Nevada, United States. The school, serving grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Clark County School District. The school's mascot are the Gators, and the school's motto is Commitment to Excellen ...

References

External links

* * * * * * 1992 births Living people American male cyclists BMX riders Olympic gold medalists for the United States in cycling Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in cycling Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Cyclists at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games UCI BMX World Champions (elite men) Green Valley High School (Nevada) alumni {{US-cycling-bio-stub