USA Cycling announced today the eight athletes who will compete in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials for BMX on June 16 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. With the overall winner of the event earning an automatic nomination to the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team, the competitors include:
Connor Fields (Henderson, Nev./Chase BMX),
Nic Long (Lakeside, Calif./Haro Bikes),
Mike Day (San Diego, Calif./GT Bicycles),
Barry Nobles (Menifee, Calif./DK Bicycles),
Corben Sharrah (Tucson, Ariz./GT Bicycles),
Donny Robinson (Napa, Calif./Hyper Bicycles),
Joey Bradford (Monterey, Calif./Prophecy BMX) and
Josh Meyers (Treasure Island, Fla./Ssquared-Answer).
Following the 2012 UCI BMX World Championships last weekend,
David Herman (Wheat Ridge, Colo./Free Agent-Rockstar) has also been nominated to the Long Team, but will not compete at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials as he has already secured an automatic nomination to the Olympic Team as the overall leader of the 2012 USA Cycling BMX Power Rankings.
Fields (2nd),
Long (3rd),
Day (4th) and
Nobles (5th) all earned automatic nominations to the Long Team and invitations to the Olympic Team Trials by virtue of their top five ranking in the final standings of the 2012 USA Cycling BMX Power Rankings.
Sharrah, Robinson, Bradford and
Meyers were all discretionary nominations to the Long Team and were extended invitations to the Olympic Trials based on various factors, including UCI BMX World Championship results and UCI BMX Supercross World Cup results.
Tyler Faoro (Coral Springs, Fla./Phoenix-Profile) was also named the replacement athlete, designating him eligible to replace any athlete who experiences injury, illness, or any foreseen incident prior to the start of the event.
As the top-ranked athlete in the USA Cycling BMX Power Rankings on the women’s side,
Arielle Martin (Spanaway, Wash./Intense BMX) will receive an automatic nomination to the final Olympic Team. One additional female will receive a nomination to the Olympic BMX squad on June 18.
The final nominations for the U.S. Olympic Team for BMX are set to be announced on June 18. All nominations are subject to approval by the USOC board of directors. More information on cycling in the Olympic Games, including complete selection procedures can be found at usacycling.org/olympics.