BMX riders come 5th; sport climbing debuts

WELLINGTON: It was a mixed opening day of competition for New Zealand athletes at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires on Sunday.

There was disappointment for BMX riders Jessie Smith and Cailen Calkin, the Waikato pairing finishing fifth in the mixed teams event.

‘‘There’s been ups downs,’’ Calkin admitted.

‘‘We’ve both been world champions but to represent New Zealand has been such a privilege.’’

The pair had been hoping for a podium finish.

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‘‘I’m a little disappointed,’’ Smith said.

‘‘It is the Youth Olympic Games, so I don’t think I can stay unhappy for that long. I tried my best and that was the best for me today.’’

Sport climber Sarah Tetzlaff flew up the speed wall to set a New Zealand record as the sport made its Olympic debut.

The Taurangabased 18yearold hit the top buzzer in a time of 12.72sec, shaving off almost half a second from the previous record of 13.14sec.

She finished 21st.

‘‘Having sport climbing in the Olympic Games is really cool. It’s inspiring lots of kids to get into the sport, too, which is neat,’’ she said.

In the triathlon, Brea Roderick produced a solid swim, bike and run to finish ninth in the sprint event.

‘‘I was super stoked with how I went out there today, given the conditions were pretty tough.’’

Roderick was in third place coming off the bike leg but dropped down the pack in the run.

Roderick will race again in the team triathlon competition alongside teammate Dylan McCullogh on Friday.

In table tennis, the New Zealanders had a tough opening day.

Nathan Xu (14) lost 40 to his Romanian opponent, while HuiLing Vong was defeated by the same margin in her match against a Brazilian.

Xu was pragmatic about his defeat.

‘‘I competed pretty well in the first two sets and managed to put him under a lot of pressure, which was my goal.

‘‘He’s one of the top juniors in the world, so I was pleased with that.’’