BMX Xtreme rush – a dynamic overview of this awesome sport
Find out about: Getting started - Gate starts - Berm tactics - The track - Bike setup - BMX language and Rules Meet the talented young people who have achieved world class status and find out what motivates them... Check out the contact details inside the book! (link will take you to an external site)
Teagan’s YOG update 3
Teagan’s YOG update 3
Race day for BMX!! After the mountain bike race I had just one day to recover and my legs just felt so dead so I knew it was going to be hard. Lunga was ready to rock his first ever race overseas…….
We had 1 time trial run, 3 motos, 3 semis and one final and because it was live TV – it was very fast racing with very short breaks.
As the time trial started, it began to rain so we waited a while – they had purpose made covers for the whole track so at least it was kept dry. I finished 4th in my time trial and then drew the hardest motos with a very fast girl from Denmark .. and of course I wanted to win each of my races. We pretty much had 5 minute breaks between each race and the heat was a real killer. I got 1st, 1st, 1st and made it into the semis.
Lunga also had a real hard moto with all the fast guys in his gate, he placed 5th, 4th and 6th and didn’t make it to the semis. He was really disappointed but I think he raced really well considering he had a torn ligament in his knee. I was really proud of him!
I decided not to push it as much in the semis as I was really tired and came 3rd, 2nd and 1st. For the final I had 2nd lane choice and I took the inside gate and unfortunately got boxed in down the first straight and couldn’t pass throughout the track. I finished in 4th, knowing I could’ve done better and just wishing I hadn’t been so tired from the MTB race, but still just so happy to make the first ever BMX YOUTH OLYMPIC FINAL
My friend Mayara from Brazil who I trained with in Switzerland won the final!! As she crossed the line, big bursts of confetti shot up in the air – it was crazy – I was really happy for her but it really sucked that she walked away from the win without even getting a medal, or getting to stand on a podium.
One more day of rest and it was down to the Float at Marina Bay for our final event – the girls time trial and the boys road race. The TT course was 3km long (part of the Singapore grand prix circuit.) I had never done anything like it before and getting up into 
the starting gantry on my own was quite strange – I just gave it my all and pushed all the way to the end. There were alot of tight corners and as I approached the finish line, it just felt like it was getting further and further away… after I finished I couldn’t even walk or talk – I finished 19th overall.
The heat was super crazy that day and the boys race was at midday – I don’t know how they did it… Jayde, Luke and Lunga did their road race. Jayde was a real star and came in 5th, Luke came in 24th. It was really tough going for the BMX boys and they even formed their own pelleton because it was just not possibe to stay with the roadies. Lunga got lapped on his 2nd lap and was pulled off.
The award ceremony was held after this event – Columbia won, and South Africa came in 14th position – I think we did well and I was proud to be part of the team.
The next day, we were all really dead tired but got shipped off to an island to do an adventure. It was more like boot camp and had to do rock climbing, canoeing, and raft building – we had to earn points and were given rewards like swatch watches etc.
I will never forget the closing ceremony! As we arrived they put us on the stag -, the stage floated on the water in the marina. They then needed the stage area to do a performance so they moved us behind the stage on a floating barge. There were so many people getting loaded on to it and it soon began to rock and then sink. We were up to our knees in the water – I have never freaked out so much in my life, people were running and screaming and falling into the water. The rest of the audience and the organisers just thought we were teenagers screaming with excitement for the show and didn’t know the drama that was really happening – then the security started to panic and we were all running for safety.
It was really sad when we watched them put out the flame – but then they turned the music up real loud and gave us the biggest after-party ever!!!!
The 3 weeks that I spent at the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore were the best weeks in my life. I will never, ever forget the experience and I really hope that Lunga, Jayde, Luke and I inspire the next team of cyclists who get selected for the Youth Olympic Games, to go there with pride and try their best in their events and enjoy themselves as much as we did.
Thank you so much to Margot Gerber and Kim Stiebel for everything you did to get me there and for always supporting me. Also thanks to Greg Till and everyone at CSA and SASCOC for this opportunity of a lifetime.
Teagan