Australia's New World Class BMX Freestyle Facility

Australia's BMX Freestyle stars chasing glory at the Tokyo Olympic Games, and the country's next generation of athletes, are set to benefit from a new world-class purpose-built BMX Freestyle training facility on the Gold Coast.

Logan Martin and Natalya Diehm will make history as Australia's first Olympic BMX Freestylers when the discipline makes its Olympic Games debut in Tokyo.

With the COVID-19 Pandemic limiting competitions and travel opportunities for Australian-based athletes across all cycling disciplines, AusCycling developed new and innovative ways to prepare all athletes for the Games.

To ensure Martin and Diehm were in the best position ahead of their highly anticipated Olympic debut, a facility at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre was developed by AusCycling with the support of the Queensland Academy of Sport and the Gold Coast City Council.

Built by international BMX athlete Jason Watts and eight builders over eight weeks, the course was designed as a replica of the Tokyo course at the Ariake Urban Sports Park.

Gold Coast's own reigning world champion Logan Martin is a hot favourite for gold in Tokyo and believes preparing at home on a replica course is the biggest advantage he could receive ahead of any competition.

"When we first saw the Tokyo course, we knew it was going to be quite a difficult course to ride, so having a replica to ride every day leading into the Games is something special," said Martin.

With restrictions placed on arrivals dates in Tokyo and strict limits on access to the official Olympic course before competition, the Games replica course on home soil has provided a significant advantage for Australia's athletes.

One of the world's fastest-growing sports and one of the most popular cycling disciplines, BMX Freestyle 'Park' is defined by aerial tricks made possible by the shape of the course and the riders' speed.

During an event, riders are judged and scored on the technicality of their tricks during one-minute 'runs' on the course. However, more than just bike skills come into play as riders are also judged on the use of the whole course and the originality of the 'lines' chosen during their run.

"There has been nothing like this ever before, said Martin. "We are a new sport in the Games, and we have never had a new course to ride before any event.

"Usually, you only have a few days when you arrive at an event to ride the course. Now, for Tokyo, I will have ridden the course for five weeks.

"We have a massive advantage, and we have a massive upper hand because of this. We are super grateful to the Queensland Academy of Sport and the Gold Coast City Council."

It has been a metaphoric rise in the sport for Gladstone's world top-ten ranked Natalya Diehm, who is preparing for her Olympic debut just three years after starting her international career.

"This course is amazing, to have this to ride on before we go away to Tokyo, it is a huge advantage for us, said Diehm. We know other countries have tried to adapt their existing facilities, but to have a purpose-built facility like this, it is a massive advantage for us."

"With BMX Freestyle now in the Olympic Games and we have facilities like this, I think it will change the sport for women and girls forever. Growing up I had nothing like this, but now you can get to the pinnacle of the Olympics, we will see more people riding."

Simon Jones, Performance Director of the Australian Cycling Team, praised all involved in bringing this idea to life over the past few months.

"It has been challenging 15 months for athletes all over the world due to the COVID Pandemic, so we needed to adapt to ensure we provided the best preparation for our athletes," said Jones.

"This Olympic Games replica course went from idea to completion in 12 weeks and allows the athletes to familiarise themselves on the Tokyo course before even arriving in Japan.

"To get this completed in time for the Games took an incredible team effort, and we would like to thank the QAS and Gold Coast City Council for their assistance in making this a reality."

Queensland has provided a training base for a host of Australia's domestic-based cyclists ahead of the Games, with the track squad settling at the Anna Meares Velodrome in Brisbane home in June, while BMX Racer Saya Sakakibara splits her time between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. The squads will stagger their departures from Brisbane for Tokyo from mid to late July.

QAS Chief Executive Chelsea Warr said the site was an excellent proof-of-concept for a potential Action and Lifestyle Sports Hub on the Gold Coast.

"We have so much potential for unearthing the next Action Sports athletes here in Queensland and it's precincts like this that will help us identify and develop that future generation," said Ms Warr.

"We recognise that Lifestyle and Action Sports have enormous respect and relevance and with the popularity in the urban sports market growing rapidly, it's our strategic priority to partner with these sports.

"The Gold Coast is a lifestyle-centred community, so it's a great place for us to start identifying and supporting talent.

"The possibilities are so exciting, and we believe there's a decade of opportunity ahead for partnership initiatives like this to help more incredible athletes like Logan and Natalya who will put it all on the line for a Tokyo result."

Gold Coast City Mayor Tom Tate is proud to host the team.

"I applaud AusCycling and the Queensland Academy of Sport for establishing this world class BMX Freestyle training facility at our GC Sports and Leisure Centre at Carrara," said Tate.

"Our city is a magnet for world-class individual athletes as well as national squads training for Tokyo and AusCycling's BMX Freestyle squad will generate in excess of $230,000 of economic benefit for the coast as well as the significant reputational benefits."

The Tokyo Olympic Games BMX Freestyle Finals will be held on Sunday 1 August from 11:10 – 13:50 AEST.

More via https://www.auscycling.org.au/nat/news/tokyo-2020-australian-cycling-guide