About BMX Freestyle
BMX-Freestyle is an extreme sport, BMX stands for bicycle motocross, where cyclists perform different breathtaking stunts. Bicycle is the means of transportation for many people around the globe.
It serves as an effective and un-polluting means of travel through the countryside. Cycle racing emerged as a sport in the 19th century. Advancement of technology made the bicycles became lighter and capable for off-roading.
In this sport the roll over from a height and sprint through an elevation to gain momentum to climb an inclined height and perform their stunts, and balance with their bicycles. The more the difficulty of their stunts, the more points they score. The rider scoring the maximum number of points is declared as the winner.
There is never a dull moment in this sport. The riders go to a great extent in displaying their skills and balance. The popularity of this sport has increased enormously because of the adventure and thrill of this sport.
This sport is played by both men and women. BMX Freestyle will make its debut in the Olympics for the first time in Tokyo 2020, and two medals are associated with this sport one for men and one for women.
Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is the governing body of this sport. They formulate rules and maintain the specifications of the bicycles and organise this sport at different sporting arena based on their sporting calendar.
BMX Freestyle Olympic 2020 logo : 
History
BMX Freestyle started around 1974, Todd Bank and Devin displayed their bicycle skills riding on BMX bikes for the first time in a skateboard ramp that they have built around their home.
In 1979, Tony Ray Davis and Wiliam Furmage formed a team and participated in shows with their BMX bikes. These shows started attracting people.
The period from the 1980s to 1987 this sport gained enormous popularity with the production of lighter bikes and accessories. Many models of BMX bikes, were introduced by manufacturers.
The 1990s saw a decline in its popularity. With the introduction of X-Games and widespread media coverage, this sport gained in popularity again.
X-Games started attracting a lot of spectators, the riders on their part wanted to display the latest stunts and techniques that they have mastered. America became one of the hubs of X-Games, with time this game gained in popularity in other countries as well.
Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) included BMX Freestyle under its purview. They organised competitions in any part of the world and also formulated the guidelines for the bikes and riders. BMX Freestyle will make its debut in the Olympics for the first time in Tokyo 2020.
Objective
The objective of BMX Freestyle is to display the best stunts by the riders that include precision, balance and accuracy within their allocated routine time. The allocated routine, time for a rider is one minute.
Every rider gets two attempts to display their skills to the judges. A routine of the rider is awarded points from 0 – 100 based on the complexity of their routine.
The final score of the rider is the combined score of each routine performed by the rider. The rider receiving the highest score from the judges is declared as the winner. The rider receiving the maximum points in their final classification round is declared as the winner in case of a tie.
Equipments
- The BMX bikes are light and may have just the rear brake or no break.
- The handles are straight to allow the riders with more grip and control.
- Bikes should have 20-inch diameter tyres in both front and rear.
- Bikes are short with a short wheel circumference to gain acceleration rapidly.
- Bikes do not have any gear mechanism in them. The handlebar can be fully rotatable by 360 degrees for the riders to perform their stunts.
- Bikes should have paddles and the rear wheel attached to a chain.
- Bikes can have axle pads on one or both the wheelbases.
- The selection of the bike depends upon the rider. As this is a freestyle sport hence rider can select the bike they wanted to use, just the basic specifications need to be followed.
- The front-wheel shall be steerable.
- The rear wheel shall be driven through a system comprising pedals, a crank-set and a chain, without electric or other assistance.
- Fixed gear bikes are not permitted.
- Bikes should not have any sharp protruding object that could harm the rider.
Safety Equipments
BMX Freestyle is an extreme sport and requires mandatory safety equipments for protection of riders.
Crash Helmets: Wearing helmets is a mandatory requirement for a rider. Helmets should be worn by the rider at all times during riding, whether during competition warm-ups or practice.
Clothing: The rider should not wear loose clothing, that could be tangled, in the rider cycle. They should wear comfortable clothing that should not display any offensive message or image that spoils the spirit of the game.
Visual Identification: The riders should always wear the visual identification sign provided by the organiser.
Sports Officials
The following officials keep a strict eye on the performance of the participants.
Commissaire: The Commissaire is the official responsible for controlling the sporting aspect of the competition. They are appointed by UCI.
Judges: The Panel of Judges is responsible for assessing and scoring the performance of each rider following the UCI Regulations. One of these Judges shall be designated as the Head Judge by the UCI. Panel consists of five judges each providing the score for a rider based on their routine’s complexity.
Announcer: Announcer is the official responsible for informing the riders and spectators about the progress of the competition. The information about the rider starting their routine is announced by the announcer.
Doctor: BMX Freestyle is an extreme sport, and a doctor is mandatory for treating any rider crash landing in need of immediate medical attention.
Terms Associated With Sport
BMX Freestyle has many terms associated with the sport. Here are some of the important terms:
Superman: The rider removes both the feet from the bike and extends them outwards to resemble Superman in flight.
Backflip: The bike and the rider does a backward flip while remaining in the air.
Frontflip: The bike and the rider does a forward flip while remaining in the air.
Barspin: Rotating the handlebar and spinning them then grabbing them back again.
Superman Seat Grab: The rider removes both the feet from the bike just catching the seat like a superman, before catching the handlebar again.
Bikeflip: The rider flips their bike without moving their body in the mid-air.
180 Degree: The bike and the rider spins backwards by 180 degrees while in the air just before landing.
360 Degree: The rider and the bike spin entire 360 degrees in the mid-air before landing.
540 Degree: The rider and the bike spins by 540 degrees in mid-air before landing.
Candy Cane: The rider takes off one foot from the pedal and puts it over the handle bar to resemble candy.
Tuck No Handlebar: The rider takes of hands from both the handlebars and tucks them.
Nothing: The rider lets of their bike completely in midair and does not touch their bike, before catching it back and landing it perfectly with balance.
Rules Of BMX Freestyle
- The riders participating in the elite sport should be above 15 years of age.
- The time allocated for each routine for am rider is one minute. The rider should complete their routine within the stipulated time.
- The qualification phase involves all the participants. The semi-finals include 24 participants. The finals for the event take place with 12 riders. The qualification phase depends upon the number of entries received.
- In case of a tie break between riders’ points, the rider with better result in the final classification is declared as the winner.
- Riders should follow all the anti-doping criteria and avoid taking banned drugs to enhance their performance.
- The best point in BMX-Freestyle is that there are no set of rules for riders routine. Riders can use the entire park and or perform their routine based on their choice of slope or elevation.
- This is a freestyle sport and riders demonstrate their ultimate stunts with their bikes to the judges.
World Rankings
- Mens BMX Freestyle
- Logan Martin
- Kevin Peraza Garcia
- Nick Bruce
- Womens BMX Freestyle
- Hannah Roberts
- Natalya Diehm
- Perris Benegas
(5 votes, average: 3.80 out of 5)