BEIJING - American racers Mike Day and Kyle Bennett gave the crowd a great introduction to the sport, with Day winning the time trial and each of his three quarterfinal heats and Bennett advancing but also dislocating his left shoulder in a wreck on his final heat.

Top-ranked competitor` Donny Robinson also moved on, as did Jill Kintner, the lone American in the 16-racer women's field, who is competing despite a shredded knee ligament.

"You can't get much more rad than this," Robinson told the Associated Press.

Santa Clarita's Day finished first in the men's quarterfinal BMX race in Beijing on Wednesday, taking the top spot in all three runs.

Overall he led Marc Willers of New Zealand and U.S. teammate Donny Robinson, a native of Napa.

The event took place at the Laoshan Bicycle Moto Cross (BMX) venue in the Laoshan, Shijingshan District in Downtown Beijing.

Day will compete in the semis on Friday with his main competition expected to come from Willers,
Robinson, Latvia's Maris Strombergs and Rob van den Wildenberg of the Netherlands.