Among those trying to dethrone her will be fellow 2012 Olympian Brooke Crain (Visalia, Calif./Haro Bicycles) and two-time junior time trial and supercross world champion Felicia Stancil (Lake Villa, IL/Factory GT Bicycles), who moved up to the elite class this year.
Nic Long (Lakeside, Calif./Haro Bikes) returns to defend his 2013 elite men’s Stars-and-Stripes jersey, but 2013 elite men’s time trial world champion Connor Fields (Henderson, Nev./Chase BMX) will be attempting to take back the title he claimed in 2012. Another rider poised to ascend the podium is Nick Koehler (Tustin, Calif./Crupi), the 2012 junior men’s national champion.
With last year’s winner Maliek Byndloss (Cape Coral, Fla./Factory Ssquared) changing his national federation to Jamaica, the junior elite men’s title is up for grabs. 2013 runner-up Aldon Volle (Penryn, Calif./ Dan's Comp/Rift Bicycles) will be aiming to climb one more step on the podium. He’ll be squaring off against 2013 junior supercross world champ Sean Gaian (Santee, Calif./Factory GT), Cole Tesar (Huntersville, N.C./ FBN Plastics/C-yaa Frames/Monster Army/Profile) and Collin Hudson (Longmont, Colo./Redline Bicycles), a five-time amateur world champion who will make his debut in the junior elite category this year. In the junior elite women’s race, Shealen Reno (Plano, Texas/Hyper Bicycles) will look to claim her second championship in a row.
Admission and parking at the Olympic Training Center is free. Attendees can park in the Visitor Center parking lot and follow the signage to walk to the Beijing supercross track.
You can follow the event on Twitter using the hashtag #BMXNats.
Riders to Watch:
Three-time national champion Alise Post (Saint Cloud, Minn./Redline Bicycles) is the one to beat in the elite women’s race.
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.