BMX Freestyle vs. Racing

Posted on August 8, 2008
Filed Under Sports, TV |

$\"BMX Freestyle\"$
BMX will be the first “action sports” discipline to enter the Summer Games Olympics, debuting this month in Beijing.

However, the BMX Olympic events will not be in the freestyle discipline (riders of vert ramp, dirt jumps, park courses, and streets) many are accustomed to viewing at the X Games or events like the Dew Tour, but consist solely of BMX racing.

Here are some interesting articles on BMX racing in Beijing and then a BMX freestyle vs racing article.

Here is the deal. The IOC (International Olympic Committee) had been considering a BMX freestyle event only if the discipline would conform to a new set of rules that would enable it to be an Olympic sport.

While the freestyle riders in the article listed above see the BMX racing events as a positive for the sport, and hope that it will open the door to future expansions (2012 in London), there is still some concern.

Chad Kagy, a freestyle rider, says, “Its a bummer we’re not included [as freestylers]. We did a Dew Tour vert event in China and the crowd just loved it. The Chinese people loved us. But 2012 works for me. I’m hoping to still be riding.”

Mat Hoffman, a freestyle rider and head of the International BMX Freestyle Federation, said that the IOC and other various governing bodies have told him that rules need to change in order to be considered. But much of the changes don’t fit the sport, which is freestyle, not conforming to rules.

Simon Tabron, another freestyle rider, said that it’s very difficult to translate what we do into an Olympic sport.

And my response to that and the IOC is: Really? What is so difficult?

The X Games and Dew Tour seem not to have any problems. You have a time limit and judging based on set of criterions (skill, style, difficulty, perfection, etc). How is this any different than gymnastics or snow boarding in the Winter Games?

The IOC tested “action sports” as a side show to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and they were a hit.

It looks like the IOC have dropped the ball on this one.

(photo via EXPN, Jared Souney)

C.Harv