UCI BMX Freestyle - Gold Coast, Australia
The Australian city of Gold Coast hosted the first round of the UCI BMX Freestyle World Cup to take place Down Under, at the same time crowning the overall winners for 2022.
The competition took place at the world class training facility created by AUS Cycling next to the indoor location called The Hot Box. Logan Martin’s multiple UCI BMX Park World Championship titles and first Olympic gold defintely demonstrate that Australia is an important player in the sport, and the UCI BMX Freestyle Park World Cup showcased the discipline to the Australian public. I got there a little earlier to get used to the time difference and to rest well before the competition. During this time, I also trained at the excellent training grounds in the surrounding area. One of these was the Hot Box, where the Australian national team trains. It was a really great training ground. I also visited other locations, including one indoor park called “The village”.
The course itself
I must admit that the course didn’t suit me at all. I had much more training than anywhere else, but I still didn’t get the flow of the park. Most of the difficult tricks I did at the competition and not on tranings. For me, the course at Gold Coast was definitely one of the most difficult so far.
Qualifications
Fifty men were looking for podium spots after a week of open practice on the permanent park where the athletes where able to acclimatise to the high temperatures. All competitors were riding great so the bar to get a good result was set very high. My ride consisted of a line that I had already made in my head and in qualifying I knew exactly on which object I would do a trick. The first qualifying run was good but then I crashed in the last three seconds of my run (see video below). The second run was solid, but still not enough for the place in the finals. I am very disappointed in myself and I feel sorry for everyone I had let down. The competition season ends here for this year. Can’t wait for next Fise World in Saudi Arabia February 2023!