Star riders Joris Daudet and Mariana Pajon showed they mean business as the BMX cycling competition got under way at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Wednesday (17 August)

Daudet, the men's world champion from France, and Colombia's Pajon, who won gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games, posted the fastest seeding runs on the first of three days of competition at the Olympic BMX Centre in Deodoro.

Gusting winds on a warm afternoon welcomed 16 women and 32 men in the one-at-a-time seeding runs to determine seeding and gate selection going into the next round of competition on Thursday.

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Pajon started last and set the fastest time of 34.508 seconds to become the cyclist to beat in the women's competition.

"So far, the sensations are good. I can see all the Colombian fans in the grandstands and my family is here as well," she said. "The Brazilian fans are also very warm. They are like we are all on the same team. We are from Latin America and we are all united." 

Arch-rival Caroline Buchanan of Australia was second at 0.244 seconds slower, with Laura Smulders of Netherlands third, finishing 0.606 seconds behind.

Daudet topped a strong field on day 1 (Photo:Rio 2016/Jamie Squire)

Daudet stopped the clock in 34.617 seconds to earn the top men's seeding run. David Graf of Switzerland was second at 0.061 seconds slower and London 2012 silver medallist Sam Willoughby of Australia was third, coming in 0.097 seconds slower. The top 20 riders in the men's competition were divided by less than one second.

Maris Strombergs of Latvia, gold medallist at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Games, did not take risks to finish seventh in 34.953.

"There is tonnes of guys, actually, who could win the race this year. There were four or five in Beijing, in London there were seven or eight. Here, there are 12 or more guys who could win. The competition is getting tougher and tougher," Strombergs said. 

The sun shone for the first day of action at the Olympic BMX Centre (Photo: Rio 2016/Gabriel Heusi)

Liam Phillips of Great Britain rode to 10th in 35.095, revealing that he broke his left collarbone eight weeks before the start of the Games.

Competition continues on Thursday with the men's quarter-final runs. Groups of eight riders race in three runs, with the top four riders from each group advancing. Semi-final and medal races will take place on Friday in both the men's and women's events.

Check out the full BMX schedule and results

Kyle Evans of Great Britain takes a corner (Photo:Rio 2016/Jamie Squire)