American BMX riders Jill Kintner and Kyle Bennett have earned two coveted tickets to Beijing — and two more men’s spots remain up for grabs.

Both riders earned their respective spots on the inaugural American Olympic BMX squad by emerging as the No. 1 rider in a ranking system devised by USA Cycling. The ranking was based on results at the world’s top international competitions from 2007-08, including the 2007 UCI world championships, the UCI Supercross, the USA Cycling national championships and the 2008 worlds, held May 31 in China.

Bennett, 29, came into the 2008 season with a sizable lead in the rankings thanks to his victory at the 2007 UCI world championships. The Conroe, Texas, native took the 2008 USA Cycling national title, and then secured his spot for the Olympics with a fourth-place finish at the May 10 Supercross race in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Winning that race was another American, Californian Donny Robinson. Robinson finished fourth at the 2008 worlds, just behind compatriot Stephen Cisar, who crossed the line in second. The strong finishes of male American BMXers helped the United States finish first in the UCI’s nation rankings for 2008. The combined nation rankings from 2006 through 2008 determines how many spots a country receives for the Beijing Games. As the top-ranked nation for that time span, the United States men earned the maximum three spots for Beijing.

The women’s squad was not as lucky. The U.S. finished a close fifth in the final nation’s rankings, with only the top-four countries earning the maximum two women’s spots. Both Kintner and compatriot Ariel Martin missed large blocs of competition from 2006-2008. Martin, America’s other heavy hitter, suffered an injury at the Christmas Classic race in 2006 and did not return from competition until July of 2007. Kintner, a four-time world champion in the sport of Four-cross mountain biking, did not transition to full-time BMX racing until mid 2007.

Martin came into the 2008 worlds with a slim 13-point lead on Kintner in USA Cycling’s Olympic ranking. But Martin suffered a pileup in the quarterfinals and failed to advance. Kintner’s subsequent sixth place finish earned her 14 points, narrowly winning her the spot.

USA Cycling hopes to name the remaining two men’s spots by June 30. One of those spots will be decided by the 2008 USA Cycling BMX Olympic trials, held June 14 at the Olympic training facility in Chula Vista, California. A selection committee will award the final spot.

A handful of men hold realistic chances at grabbing the two spots, including Robinson, Cisar, Mike Day and David Herman. Stay tuned to VeloNews.com for news and results from the USA Cycling BMX Olympic trials.