Corben Sharrah earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic team in men’s BMX cycling by winning the U.S. Olympic Team Trials today at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.

Sharrah, of Tucson, Arizona, won all three of his heats heading into the final, which he won in 37.38 seconds. Barry Nobles of Menifee was second and David Herman of Wheat Ridge, Colorado was third.

“I always dreamed of this day, and last week it was so hard dreaming of this over and over again, thinking of myself crossing the line first,” the 24-year-old Sharrah said. “For it to unfold and actually happen, it just hit me. It feels good. All the hard work is paying off.”

The Rio Games will be Sharrah’s first Olympics.

“You’re not done until you get that (Olympic) medal around your neck, and that’s the main goal,” said Sharrah, who won the Santiago del Estero, Argentina top on the World Cup circuit on March 26, his first victory on the World Cup circuit since 2011.

“I’d love to get that medal — get to Rio and do really well. Getting this race over with, getting this mentally out of the way and being able to put the head down and really hammer it for Rio — it’s going to be really awesome.”

Lakeside resident Nic Long qualified for a spot on the U.S. Olympic BMX team with a third-place finish in the 2016 UCI BMX World Championships in Medellin, Colombia on May 29.

— City News Service

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