Huimin Zhou, centre, of China won the Brussels stop of the BMX Freestyle World Cup circuit, in the women's park event ©UCI

Eighteen-year-old Huimin Zhou of China has won the Brussels stop of the International Cycling Union (UCI) BMX Freestyle World Cup circuit.

Although the event, in the freestyle park discipline, was threatened by hail and storms Zhou demonstrated supreme confidence in her rides at the Josaphat Park in Schaerbeek to take gold.

She included tricks such as the "360 condor", "360 double bar" and a "big top table transfer" to impress the judges.

She scored 91.40 points to win from Hannah Roberts of the United States with 89.10 points.

Another Chinese teenager, 17-year-old Honglin Xia took bronze with 87.90.

The Chinese squad had decided to stay in Europe following the previous World Cup event in Montpellier, and the decision seemed to have worked as they placed five riders in the top ten.

In the women’s World Cup standings, Roberts still leads with 2,800 points, followed by Zhou on 2,350 and another Chinese rider Sun Sibei is third on 2,110.

In the men’s competition Anthony Jeanjean of France produced excellent runs which included tricks such as a "720 bar", a "triple whip backflip" and a "double backflip" to score 92.56 points which gave him victory.

It was the second successive year that Jeanjean had won in Brussels.

Japan’s Rimu Nakamura scored 91.56 for silver and bronze went to Olympic champion Logan Martin of Australia, the overall champion in 2022, with 89.41 points.

In the overall men's World Cup park standings, Martin has a clear advantage on 2,820 from Christopher Marcus of the United States on 2,110. Jeanjean is third on 2,070.

Brussels was the third stop on the circuit which had previously visited Diriyah in Saudi Arabia and Montpellier in France.

The fourth round of the UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup has been scheduled for Bazhong, China from October 15 to 17. 

Before then, the riders head to Glasgow, Scotland, for the UCI World Championships.

The BMX freestyle park events are scheduled to run from August 5 to 7 followed by BMX freestyle flatland from August 8.