Despite seeing his run of X Games BMX park dominance come to an end in Japan, Olympic champion Logan Martin was happy to be back competing in the country.

The 29-year-old Australian has had a number of memorable victories on Japanese soil, none bigger than his BMX freestyle gold when the sport made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games two years ago.

He had been aiming for his fifth straight X Games park crown at Chiba's Zozo Marine Stadium on Saturday, but had to settle for silver when rain washed out the scheduled final, leaving qualifying-round winner Daniel Sandoval of the United States as the gold medalist.

"I was going for my fifth park gold medal in a row, which has only been done once by (late BMX great) Dave Mirra," Martin said.

"It's very unfortunate that it rained out and we go off qualifying results. But we sort of went into qualifying knowing there was a chance of rain today."

Logan Martin of Australia competes en route to winning the BMX freestyle men's park final at the Tokyo Olympics at Ariake Urban Sports Park in Tokyo on Aug. 1, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Winner of park gold at the inaugural X Games Japan a year ago, the avowed lover of Japanese food, in particular sushi, said it was nevertheless good to be back among what are now familiar surroundings.

"It's always good to come back to Japan. The people are amazing, it's a super clean place and the food's awesome as well," he said.

Martin described the Olympic victory at Tokyo's Ariake Urban Sports Park as a life-changing experience, making him the face of a freestyle BMX boom in his home country.

"There's been a lot of attention in the sport now post-Olympics, especially within Australia, seeing new parks pop up, having the Australian Cycling Federation involved, all that sort of stuff has helped freestyle BMX," he said.

Although the X Games remain an important part of the BMX circuit, the Olympics have become its new focal point, and Martin is determined to defend his freestyle crown at next year's Paris Games.

"I'm still riding at the highest level. My body is still good. My mind is still good," Martin said. "I believe I can do it again, and I'll do my best to back up the Tokyo performance."

Having won his Olympic gold in front of empty grandstands in Tokyo due to the coronavirus pandemic, Martin said he was excited by the prospect of performing for a full house at the Paris Games.

"Being there with some packed grandstands is going to create a pretty epic environment, and I can't wait to feel that sort of rush that you're going to get riding at the Olympics in front of a packed crowd," he said.


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