This sport is as fast as it is impressive. Recent appearance, rules, lexicon, champions… Immerse yourself in the world of BMX Racing, one of the events of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
What is the origin of BMX Racing?
BMX racing or BMX “race” is a young and recent discipline. In the late 1960s, BMX was developed in the United States. In 1974, it attracted the attention of the Yamaha brand which began to build stronger bikes, formatted for this sport.
In 1981, the “International BMX Federation (IBMXF)” was founded and the sport was structured in a more serious way. A year later, his notoriety will explode considerably thanks to the famous film ET the extraterrestrial where the hero carries out a chase with his BMX bike. After several World Cups, the sport joined the official program of the Olympic Games in 2008 in Beijing. A program that the discipline will never leave.
Who are the best runners and the best countries?
The youth of this sport means that it does not really have any favorites. But two names can nevertheless stand out from the crowd.
The Colombian Mariana Pajon, among the women, and the Latvian Maris Strombergs each won two Olympic titles each.
Dutch runner Niek Kimmann notably won the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 while Briton Beth Shriever dominated the women’s competition. Note, and it is important to underline it, that the Frenchman Romain Mahieu won the BMX racing World Cup in 2023.
What are the rules of BMX racing?
BMX racing is a subcategory of BMX. He opposes BMX freestyle. The discipline is impressive and only lasts… a few seconds. The eight runners first set off from an eight meter high hill. The sport is played on a 400 meter long track with several turns and bumps. To succeed, you have to be explosive, powerful and fast. Obviously, the first to cross the finish line wins the race. In total, 48 runners, or 24 for each event, will participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
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BMX racing vocabulary
BMX : Bicycle Moto-Cross
Rider : Person who practices this sport
Start : Where the starting grid is located
Triple : three bumps in succession
Flat : Figure on flat ground with at least one of the two wheels placed on the ground
Key dates to remember for the Olympics
BMX racing will take place at the fully covered BMX stadium at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome.
The competition will begin on 1st of August around 8 p.m. with a qualifying round for men and women. The men’s and women’s quarter-finals will then take place, which will be played over three rounds.
The next day, the August 2nd, the semi-finals will be played, still in three rounds for the men’s and women’s competition. Next, the finals will take place on the same day.
