Chasing the Olympic dream in BMX racing. By BdJ

Jan 18, 2020

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 3131 times

The new UCI BMX SX World Cup season is about to kick off in Australia. With races on the program in Shepparton and Bathurst the first two weekends of February, it's going to be interesting to see who are on top. The Olympics are happening this summer and with 24 spots available in both Men and Women, it is key to get as many points in before the Olympic qualification period ends on 1 June 2020. All UCI BMX SX World Cups and the 2020 UCI BMX race World Championships in Houston will happen before 1 June making the first 5 months a hectic period for any racer chasing the Olympic dream.

The first two highest ranked nations will get to send 3 athletes to Tokyo. Nations ranked on spot 3-5 will get to send 2 racers and countries in top 6-11 will get to send 1. It gets complicated for the last spots to be filled in but the time has come that all points gained in the upcoming qualifying races are important.

In the Men division things are looking good for The Netherlands and France. The points lead over the USA in third is substantial. With 4 home races coming up Australia (currently in 6th) will want to break into the top 5 giving them an extra rider with an Olympic ticket. Since the change to 24 Olympic participants in the male class instead of 32, it gets interesting around spot 11.

BMX Racing Olympic Qualification Men Ranking (as of 18 January 2020)
1 NETHERLANDS NED 5153
2 FRANCE FRA 5029
3 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA USA 3702
4 SWITZERLAND SUI 3179
5 COLOMBIA COL 2748
6 AUSTRALIA AUS 2605
7 GREAT BRITAIN GBR 2545
8 ARGENTINA ARG 2410
9 ECUADOR ECU 2184
10 BRAZIL BRA 2110
11 RUSSIAN FEDERATION RUS 1613
12 ITALY ITA 1235
13 CANADA CAN 1181
14 SOUTH AFRICA RSA 1145
15 GERMANY GER 1144
16 LATVIA LAT 1137
17 JAPAN JPN 1053
18 CHILE CHI 1028
19 INDONESIA INA 966
20 NORWAY NOR 900
21 BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA VEN 806
22 CZECH REPUBLIC CZE 805
23 NEW ZEALAND NZL 697
24 DENMARK DEN 685
25 BELGIUM BEL 601

With equality in mind Women BMX Racing received 8 extra spots compared to previous Olympic Games races. Not 16 but 24 women will make it to the Games and the same process is used as in the Men class. The Netherlands has a lead over the USA who are in a solid second place spot. With the scores of the best three racers of a nation counting towards the Olympic Qualifying ranking in BMX racing, a solid crew is needed in order to claim a spot.

BMX Racing Olympic Qualification Women Ranking
1 NETHERLANDS NED 5350
2 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA USA 4960
3 FRANCE FRA 3600
4 AUSTRALIA AUS 3265
5 RUSSIAN FEDERATION RUS 3131
6 BRAZIL BRA 2768
7 NEW ZEALAND NZL 2728
8 COLOMBIA COL 2610
9 DENMARK DEN 2222
10 CANADA CAN 2075
11 SWITZERLAND SUI 1862
12 ECUADOR ECU 1841
13 JAPAN JPN 1692
14 LATVIA LAT 1275
15 GREAT BRITAIN GBR 1250
16 THAILAND THA 1200
17 BELGIUM BEL 1158
18 GERMANY GER 1146
19 PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA CHN 1030
20 CZECH REPUBLIC CZE 745
21 ARUBA ARU 635
22 CHILE CHI 610
23 GUATEMALA GUA 560
24 INDONESIA INA 525
25 ARGENTINA ARG 35

Needless to say, pressure is on. It will make the upcoming season a spectacular one. FATBMX will be present so make sure to check back in for updates. For the moment, being Dutch, we're okay with the standings in both Men and Women. Hup Holland Hup!

BdJ

Olympic Qualifying criteria BMX Racing. Hit this link.

Photos by Bart de Jong/FATBMX