Since the announcement was made by the International Olympic Committee that BMX Freestyle Park was going to be included in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, British Cycling has been working tirelessly to secure funding to create a programme for talented BMX Freestyle riders who share our aspirations of growing the scene in the UK by achieving Olympic success.
With the outcome of the funding decision due next month, British Cycling is getting ready to hit the ground running by starting the recruitment of male and female BMXers to join our journey to Tokyo 2020.
Thirteen-time X-Games gold medallist Jamie Bestwick is supporting our campaign to find Great Britain’s BMX Freestyle Olympic champions. He said: “BMX Freestyle is at an all-time high in this country right now, and British Cycling is committed to taking it to the next level.
“The Olympic Games is the ultimate platform for any athlete to showcase their talent. The sport of BMX Freestyle has just been given an incredible opportunity to perform on an Olympic Stage.
“I believe Great Britain has some of the most exciting rising talent in the world and I feel they have what it takes to succeed at an Olympic level.”
Alex Coleborn, who won silver at the inaugural Urban World Championships in 2017, also supports our ambitions to have a Freestyle squad. He said: “I train and compete alongside some of the world’s best BMXers and I think Great Britain has loads of talent who could bring home an Olympic medal. This is a brilliant opportunity to raise the profile of what we do and I’ll definitely be putting an application in.”
Want to be involved?
The Great Britain Cycling Team knows what it takes to win Olympic medals, and we are keen to support the country’s best BMXers who share our ambition of winning Olympic and world championship medals to help increase interest and participation in cycling.
We are now welcoming applications from BMXers who wish to be considered for the Great Britain Cycling Team squad. We are looking for riders who:
- Are aged 15 years old by January 1st 2020 – born by the 31st December 2004,
- Hold (or are eligible for) a British passport,
- Have ambitions to compete in the FISE World Series and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
If you meet the above criteria, please compete the below application.
During this process you will be required to submit a link to a video clip (YouTube or similar) of you in action. Videos can be up to one minute long (no less than 45 seconds) and cover one continuous run of you in action. Please note, these runs can be from a recent event or just something that you have put together in your local skate park. Please do not submit an edit of just tricks as we want to see how you use park features in order to connect your tricks.
The deadline for applications is midnight on Sunday 28th January 2018. All applications will then be reviewed by a panel of judges and a shortlist of riders – both male and female – will be invited to take part in a training camp between the 18th and 28th February 2018. Please note, this camp will be abroad and attendance will be critical for consideration on the programme. Whilst it won’t cover the whole period identified above, please let us know on your application if there any reason that would preclude your attendance to some / all of this camp. You will be informed during the week commencing Monday 29th January 2018 of your invitation.
