The men's BMX freestyle event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 31 July and 1 August 2021 at the Ariake Urban Sports Park.

A preview by Olympics.com noted the favourites as Brandon Loupos of Australia (the 2019 World Champion), Daniel Dhers of Venezuela, and Rim Nakamura of Japan.

[6] The United States selected Justin Dowell (2018 World Champion) and Nick Bruce (2019 bronze medalist); the Americans finished the 2021 World Championship with 3 cyclists in the top 5 places (Bruce 5th, Dowell 4th, and Daniel Sandoval taking silver).

[7] A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 2 qualified cyclists in the BMX freestyle.

These seeding scores are used to determine the start order of the cyclists in the final, providing a knowledge advantage to the later riders.