BMX IN THE OLYMPICS: AUG 20 THE BIG 'Q' DATE!
Them riders ain't just slackers any more. Tarnished studs hanging from their lips and eyebrows aside, their sport has arrived.
The bigness of BMX is about to break over the unaware mainstream; most of whom don't even know that the ride-like-hell bike sport will make its debut in Beijing's 2008 Olympics. The first and only scheduled test event of the Olympic course will take place August 20-21; riders from all over the world are already heading to China for that event, the season's second stop of the BMX Supercross World Cup. But this one is the race that counts; this one is an Olympic qualifier. For the world's best riders, August 20 is "Q" day.
BMX, or Bicycle Moto Cross, is the non-motorized version of motocross, and also includes freestyle and jumping---in other words, any extreme kind of move that can be made on two wheels. Riders use bikes with 20-inch wheels. Much of the frame is padded; but the bike itself is stripped down. No chain guard, kickstand or any other type of bolted on gear is allowed. It's a rough sport that takes nerve and daring---big ones, to coin a phrase. Think of the carnage that is boardercross. Now imagine it on a bike.
There is a BMX World Cup series that's big in Japan and HUGE in Europe. For pro riders, it's a full time gig. The athletes may not make millions, but they do all right. Rider Eric Carter, who was third at the first 2007 Jeep King of the Mountain event, says, "This is what I do for a living. I make enough so that me and my wife and two kids are content and happy."
Inclusion of the sport in the 2008 Beijing Olympics was announced in 2003. That's when IOC president Jacques Rogge said, "The International Olympic Committee must adapt to changing attitudes of young people if it wants to stay relevant...With youngsters turning fast to other sports competitions like the X Games, the IOC has to change."
The kids who used to ride bikes that were too small for them, who rode with their knees up around their ears and raced their buddies over fallen tree trunks and street curbs, are now grownups with families and careers. They would much rather watch BMX any day than Monday Night Football.
USA Cycling, which oversees road racers like Tour de France contender Levi Leipheimer, is also the national governing body for BMX. They are sending eight riders to the Beijing Supercross, all expenses paid.
The athletes are four men: Donny Robinson, Kyle Bennett, Mike Day and Randy Stumpfhauser; and four women: Amanda Geving, Kim Hayashi, Krystal Hime and rising star Jill Kintner.
Kintner is already a BMX/mountain bike star; she's won the prestigous Crankworx Bikercross, two BMX World Cups and a NORBA mountain bike race, and took the win in the Australian National Mountain Bike Championships. She also won the August 4th Jeep King of the Mountain race in Park City, Utah. But every sport needs a face to bring it fame (Arnold and bodybuilding, for example); and Kintner may be the face for BMX. Her rippled blonde hair and constant smile seem at odds with the helmeted daredevil who moves her bike in unreal ways on course; grabbing the win and grinning about it. Her personality stands out in a way guaranteed to make her the media's darling when the Games come around. If she qualifies and stays healthy, Kintner will be the one every Olympic reporter will want to interview.
But many others outside the eight athletes being sent by USA Cycling are also heading to China in an attempt to qualify. There are 48 slots for BMX athletes; 32 for men and 16 for women. Only three men and two women from each of the top countries will qualify; the U. S. is the world's top ranked country in BMX.
The Laoshan BMX Venue is rippled with jumps, one huge berm down the stretch from the start and three smaller berms. It would have been more challenging if it had more 'cross to the course, but this is good for a start. Below is an artists rendering from the official Laoshan Venue website:
