Evie Richards said she was "super happy" with her Olympic debut after finishing seventh in a mountain bike race in Tokyo, but regretted that a typhoon that hit Izu changed the complexion of the race.

The rainy weather made the previously dry course slippery and muddy, and conditions were so severe that organizers had to change the course, alter some lines, and reduce the number of laps from six to five.

Richards, who had been training on these original lines all weekend, had to adapt quickly and revealed that he crashed in the pre-race practice as a result.

"It was a really weird race. The conditions were ...... This morning it was pouring mud and when we did the track practice a lot of the A-lines were closed.

"I had a couple of crashes in practice this morning, and after learning all the A-lines, trying to learn new ones is very difficult in a short time when the adrenaline is pumping. It would have been better if it had kept raining, but the course stayed the same. So even though it was muddy, they kept the A-lines open."

Nevertheless, Richards made a good start and finished second after five laps of the circuit, which had been shortened from 4.1 km to 3.85 km.

However, she lost ground in the third lap, as the Swiss competitors, led by Yolanda Neff, took control of the race.

"I was pretty shocked when I got second on the first lap, and I was probably a little thrown," Richards said. [A couple of people made mistakes and I was steady on the first lap. But I think I went a little too deep."

"But the start was slippery and I was on muddy tires, so maybe the tires were good at that point. But as the race went on, the rocks got shinier and shinier, and maybe that made it harder.

Despite this, Richards was perfectly happy with his Olympic debut. The 24-year-old, who combines mountain biking and cyclo-cross, shined at the U23 level and made his breakthrough at the elite level last year with a World Cup win in the Nove Mesto short track.

"I'm very happy. I wanted to come to the Olympics and I'm proud to be part of the Olympics.

"It's really strange. It's different from what I imagined. It's really great to be here, but the cobid security is so tight and it's quieter than a normal World Cup. It's more nerve-wracking than a normal World Cup. On rest days I just sat around and twiddled my thumbs, and it's kind of strange."

However, she is already thinking about the next Olympics, which will be held in Paris in three years.

"I think Paris will be very different and I think these Olympics have prepared me for Paris."