BMX and the Olympics: Shredding Dirt on the International Stage

The marriage between BMX and the Olympics is fairly recent, and there hasn't been a large list of accomplishments yet. However, perhaps the greatest accomplishment is having the sport added to the list of events that attract participants to the Olympic games. Having a BMX competition join the other sports at the 2008 runs held in Beijing was a crowning achievement to those who had been trying for years to have bicycle motocross recognized for the incredible sport that it is.It really is a shame that it wasn't added sooner, since BMXhas a longer history than many might think. It stretches back to the 1960s when racers wanted to take off-road motorcycle racing into the realm of manually powered transportation. However, it took until 1982 before a true world championship race was held. Even then, it wasn't until 1993 that the International Cycling Union offered any blessing to the sport. The IOC finally broke down in 2003, and admitted that it was an event that they wanted to officially sanction.Since the marriage between BMX and the Olympics isn't that old, the list of medallists is quite short. After all, there has only been one year to draw names from. There were both events for men and women. French athletes took both the women's gold and silver home. Anne-Caroline Chausson received the top honours with 35.976 while Laetitia le Corguille came in at 38.042. With a score of 38.674, Jill Kitner took the bronze to the United States.At an impressive 36.190, Latvia's Maris Strombergs won the men's gold in 2008 and set a standard for the next set of events in the future. The silver and bronze medals both went to Americans in the men's events. Mike Day with a 36.606 and Donny Robinson with a 36.972 came in second and third.Fortunately, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London will feature the event. It takes a special kind of athlete to compete in BMX, and it really is high time that it receives the mainstream recognition that it deserves. Granted, some people may be critical of that and say that some of the people involved have sold out because of the previously underground status. However, this isn't at all a case of that. Instead, it is a celebration of those who have put their bodies on the line to advance the state of the art of a sport and now receive due credit.