World-class athlete and BMX champion, Jamie Bestwick has been nominated for The Laureus World Sports Academy’s 2011 World Action Sportsperson of the Year. Bestwick is being recognized for his four-peat gold medal win at the 2010 Summer X-Games when he completed 540 variations, a downside tailwhip flair and double downside tailwhips with the style and amplitude that he’s known for. “The Laureus Awards are the Academy Awards for athletes and to be recognized by that group is an incredible achievement in itself. I’m humbled by the fact that they noticed my win and honored to be able to represent BMX among this field of world-class athletes,” said
Bestwick.
A British national,
Jamie Bestwick was born in Nottingham and began riding BMX in the outskirts of Derbyshire, England in 1981. Although talented in all disciplines of BMX, Bestwick is legendary for his skills on a vert ramp. Bestwick’s BMX career includes eight

X Games gold medals, and a record-setting X Games “four-peat” of golds for BMX vert in 2010. Bestwick remains the only Dew Cup Champion for BMX vert, a six-year total since the Dew Tour’s inception. Bestwick is sponsored by Monster Energy Drink, Toyota, Alpinestars and DK Bikes, and also serves as a NBC Sports spokesperson and color TV commentator for the Dew Tour and AMA Outdoor Motocross Series.
The Laureus Award recognizes outstanding performance by athletes worldwide. Award winners are selected by the 46 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy that includes legendary athletes like
Sebastian Coe, Jack Nicklaus, Martina Navratilova, and
Ian Botham. Bestwick will attend the 2011 Laureus World Sports Awards Ceremony, broadcast worldwide from the Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, on the evening of Monday, February 7.
Pics by Dew Tour / Mark Elders