10 June, 2008

 

 

Australia get maximum BMX riders to Beijing Olympics

 

BMX Australia was today advised from the UCI (Union Cyclist International) that Australia have qualified the highest number of BMX athletes to contest the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Australia now receives the maximum number of riders permitted which is three men and two women. Five Australian BMX riders will now compete in Beijing  in August.

 

By the end of the qualification period which ended last week following the World Championship in Taiyuan , China , Australia ’s points ranked them second in the men’s nation ranking and third in the women’s.

 

Prior to the championships, Australia were looking confident to stay in the top five ranked nations in the men’s however the women’s ranking was in some doubt to remain in the top four rankings which would allow the full contingent of two riders in Beijing. Two of the three point scorers for Australia were absent from the World Championships as injury took its toll. Current National Champion, Melissa Mankowski, suffered knee injury just one week prior while just one day before competition started Nicole Callisto suffered a fracture to her elbow during practice on the track in Taiyuan . The remaining rider, Tanya Bailey made it through to semi-finals scoring Australia  four points which allowed Australia to finish ahead of close rivals Argentina, Czech Republic and the United States of America. The strong USA team only managed sixth place overall which allows them only one women's rider..

 

Australian selectors will now spend the month of June going over performance criteria and the selection guidelines in detail to nominate the five riders to the Australian Olympic Committee. The announcement is due on or about 27^th June.

 

A full field of 32 men and 16 women will compete for the first time at any Olympic Games as a fully fledged medal sport. The announcement of BMX’s inclusion the sport has been preparing for its debut. Some of the notable changes have been the introduction of the higher, steeper starting ramp which is eight metres high. The courses themselves while still approximately 300 metres in length; have become more extreme mirroring the Supercross layout now seen in motocross. They now boast larger jumps and more challenging sections of track. Added into that is a slightly different racing format involving two time trials to seed riders plus the added bonus of lane choice by top finishers in each moto/heat.

 

Top ranked countries

Men (top 5 countries take 3 riders)

United States of America 669 points

Australia 487 points

Latvia 471 points

Netherlands 452 points

Columbia 409 points

 

Women (top 4 countries take 2 riders)

France 620 points

New Zealand 500 points

Australia 484 points

Argentina 482 points

 

2008 BMX Olympic Qualification Criteria

Nations ranking Men & Women:

http://www.uci.ch/imgArchive/Bmx/Olympics/2008%20Olympic%20BMX%20qualification%20criterias1.pdf

 

Selection Policies 2008 Australian Olympic Team link  - for BMX see Section F page 25.

http://www.cycling.org.au/Content/NavigationMenu/HighPerformance/SelectionPolicies/2008AustOlympicTeamCYCLINGNominationCriteria_Final11-09-07.pdf

 

Current Rankings – Nations & individual – see men’s and women’s listings

http://www.uci.ch/ucinet/uci.asp?page=rankings&discipline=bmx&ryear=2008&ridercategory=me&l=eng

 

For more information/interviews/quotes/vision or photos please contact:

 

Sharon Payne
Media Manager
BMX Australia
Mob +61 (0) 412 773500
sharon@bikemedia.com.au