Home of BMX Racing in the biggest state
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31 May 2008
optimistic of two places in women's competition in Beijing.South Australian Sam Willoughby has snared the gold medal in the junior men's final at the UCI BMX World Championships in Taiyuan, China while in the junior women's final Lauren Reynolds scored silver and Rachael
Bracken the bronze medal. In the elite women's competition Tanya Bailey's semi final berth should be enough to give Australia two starting places for women in the BMX at the
Olympic Games. Bailey lined up as Australia's only starter in the elite women's competition after a major knee injury during training put Melissa Mankowski out of the team and out of contention for Olympic selection. Nicole Callisto suffered an elbow fracture in yesterday's training session in
Taiyuan and was forced to withdraw. "We don't know how serious it is yet but the initial doctor's report is that it's not so bad," said Sharples. "We'll get her to a specialist when we get back
to Australia and take it from there." Bailey's sole representative status put added pressure on her with Australia needing points to ensure two starting places for women in Beijing. "The pressure was on her because we had one rider to earn points and other countries had three to start with," said Sharples. "However her racing was really good and by getting into the semi finals I think she's done enough to give us the two places but we'll have to
wait for confirmation from the UCI." Jared Graves was the best placed of the elite men and the only one to make it through to the final where he finished in seventh place. "I won my eighth, my quarter and my semi final and was really feeling good for the win," said Graves. "But it pretty much came down to who came over the first jump
smoothest and I really didn't do it. "Then I was annihilated in the first corner by guys going for broke which stopped my run but I'm still pretty happy with that," explained Graves who earned enough points to end the BMX season ranked number two in the world behind American Donny Robinson. "My strength is really good and I'm definitely capable of getting to the front of any race in the world so I'll keep
that in mind when I'm training for Beijing." Graves will now head to Europe to contest the Four Cross at the MTB World Cup round in Fort William, Scotland ahead of the
Mountain Bike World Championships in Italy in mid
June. "I'll really be training through those races and using them as preparation for the Olympics," he said. But his first stop will be a dentist. "I'm looking forward to root canal work on a tooth that has been troubling me for the past few weeks," said
Graves. Cycling Australia's National Performance Director for BMX, Scott Sharples says Graves' performance was better than the result shows. "He had a really good competition but might have spent himself a little too much in the lead in rounds," said Sharples. "The first corner in the final was fierce with so much bombing and diving as riders
looked to make up ground and he got hit from
both sides at the same time. "But he shouldn't have been there at that point," said Sharples. "He should have been in front and he knows that and next time he will be." Kamakazi and Luke Madill made it through to the semi finals but Kamakazi scored a bad lane draw and Madill was pushed off the track when a rival came over the top and knocked his handlebars. Neither qualified for the final. "The quality of competition was outstanding," said Sharples. "From the quarters (finals) onwards every race could have
been the final." While Beijing might be just around the corner the junior members of the Australian team are already planning their London assault for the 2012 Olympic Games. "That's my big goal," said Willoughby who even after being presented with his gold medal was still
finding it hard to absorb his win. "It still seems like a bit of a dream," he said. "I still can't believe I'm a World Champion!
I won every run and going into the final I just knew I had to do one more and I did it,"
he said. "My main goal in the final was to nail the first jump and I knew if I got over the first jump smooth
I'd win and that's how it worked out." Cycling Australia's National Performance Director for BMX,
Scott Sharples, says Willoughby was impressive throughout the day's competition not just in the way
he rode but in how he dealt with the pressure. "He's only a first year junior but he was poised and in
control and that was the best thing about him," said Sharples. "He went into every race cool, calm
and collected and knowing what he had to do." The 16 year old is in Grade 11 at Brighton High School
and has been racing BMX since he was six years old. China is his fourth World Championships and
the first time he was won gold. In the junior women's competition Bunbury's Lauren Reynolds claimed
silver ahead of team mate Rachael Bracken from Townsville. "The day wasn't so good leading up to the final
because I didn't get a good race in any of my three motos (qualifying rides)," explained Reynolds who
already has a gold medal to her credit from the 2003 World Championships in Perth and in Canada last year
claimed the bronze medal. "But I was expecting
the final to be the race for the day. "I got out of the gate all right, had a little bit of luck to miss a crash on my inside, rode a good second straight and was leading into the second corner but I made a bit of a wrong move there," she said. "I managed to hold on for second place though." The Grade 12 student at Bunbury Catholic College turns 17 in June and has been racing BMX since she was eight years old and dreams to
represent Australia at the Olympic Games in 2012. "My goal is gold in London for sure," she said. "No other
medal - gold." Bronze medallist Bracken says she's thrilled she made the
podium. "I'm really happy, stoked," said Bracken. "I only got seventh pick for the start order but I was pretty happy to get an outside lane because I thought it would be best for me so I wouldn't get boxed in and it worked out well." Competition in the cruiser class continues today. The team competing in
Taiyuan is listed below for reference Nicole Callisto
(Beechboro, WA -12/11/1987) -DNS Melissa Mankowski (Moranbah, QLD -25/08/1988) -
DNS For further information
(media only) please contact: For other BMX mediacontact: Sharon Payne
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