South Africa's Sifiso Nhlapo booked his wild-card ticket to the Beijing Olympic Games when he finished third in the Elite Men’s race at the 2008 BMX World Championships in Taiyuan, China on Saturday.

The 20-year-old from Johannesburg, claimed South Africa’s first ever Elite category BMX world championships medal in a thrilling final, which saw him recover superbly after being shoved in the first corner in a tightly-contested race.

Europe's number one-ranked rider, Maris Strombergs of Latvia claimed the gold medal with the USA's Steven Cisar securing the silver.

Nhlapo needed to at least reach the quarterfinals to secure one of the six wild card slots in the 32-man line-up in Beijing where BMX racing makes its Olympic debut. But the MTN-sponsored rider made absolutely certain he’d get the Beijing nod by going all the way through to the final.

Nhlapo was ranked 12th in the world going into the world championships, but because South Africa’s nation ranking was outside the world’s top 11 countries, South Africa didn’t gain an automatic qualifying spot.

On Sunday, Nhlapo will contest the Cruiser Class at the world championships. The 24-inch bikes category isn’t as mainstream as the 20-inch class which he raced on Saturday, but is usually contested by all of the world’s leading racers. In 2005, Nhlapo won the Junior Cruiser Class gold medal at the world championships.

In 2009 a round of the BMX World Cup will be held in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, with the BMX World Championships to be held in the KwaZulu-Natal capital city in 2010.