May 25, 2007
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July 16,2007
BMX TEAM USA GETS A GOLD! CONGRATS!
It's Richardson & Diaz In Elite Racing Action At Pan Am Games!
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (July 15, 2007) - In addition to the two mountain bike medals won Saturday by Adam Craig and Mary McConneloug, the U.S. took home another gold medal from the Pan American Games this morning compliments of BMX racer Jason Richardson (Carlsbad, Calif.).
The 33-year-old Richardson made his way to the eight-man main where he lined up in the start gate with Jonathan Suarez (VEN), Jose Primera (VEN), Herrera A. Castro (COL), Caicedo A. Jimenez (COL), Mauro Aquino (BRA), Cristian Becerine (ARG), and Ramiro Marino (ARG).
Although the American wasn't a favorite to win the final run, he took advantage of an amazing start to grasp the lead in the first turn and hold off his rivals until the end. Suarez and Primera followed him in second and third respectively.
"This has been a tough year for me so I am happy to win," Richardson said after his victory. "Everyone at the USOC and USA Cycling took care of us and believed in us. This win is for the country and the U.S. Olympic Program. Winning feels good!"
In the women's event, reigning USA Cycling BMX National Champion Krystal Hime (San Antonio, Texas) narrowly missed out on a fourth cycling medal for the U.S. In the eight-woman main, she joined compatriot Rachel Smith (Gahanna, Ohio), who along with Hime, is responsible for the U.S. being ranked third in the world in women's BMX racing. In the final, Hime finished fourth and Smith seventh. The gold medal was won by Argentina's Gabriela Diaz.
"The competition was good. They want to win as much as we do," Hime said following her fourth-place effort. "It was a good experience. I am not used to the tracks here though. It was a challenge for myself. I think it would have been a perfect race had it not rained earlier in the week."
On the road, 19-year-old Kimberly Geist (Emmaus, Pa.) made an impressive Pan American Games debut this afternoon with a fifth-place effort in the women's time trial. The young American clocked a time of 28:21.69 over the 19.5-kilometer course to finish 1:58 off the pace of winner Anne Samplonius of Canada.
August 21, 2007
Robinson previews Olympic BMX course with victory in Beijing Beijing, China (August 21, 2007)—Less than one year before BMX racing makes its Olympic debut at the 2008 Games in Beijing, Donny Robinson (Napa, Calif.) rode to victory in the official BMX Olympic Test Event on Tuesday. The event, which doubled as the second round of the 2007 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup, featured an all-star field of Olympic hopefuls from 25 countries in the only world-class competition scheduled on the track that will be used at the Olympic Games before next August. As the sole American in the elite men’s final, Robinson outrode Dutchman Robert de Wilde and Australian Jared Graves to claim the win and bolster his number-one world ranking. Jill Kintner (Seattle, Wash.) led the U.S. with a fifth-place effort in the elite women’s contest. As in the men’s final, only one American advanced from the semifinals as Kintner finished behind world champion Shanaze Reade (GBR), Anne-Caroline Chausson (FRA), Laetitia le Corguille (FRA) and Maria Gabriela Diaz (ARG). For Robinson, the win proved to be a major accomplishment after being eliminated in the quarterfinals at last month’s world championships. “I was pretty disappointed with my performance at worlds, but that’s the way BMX is”, Robinson explained. “Things can happen all the time, but you can’t let it get you down, especially now that the road to the Olympics is in full swing. It’s a huge win for myself.” Robinson was one of 13 Americans that made the trip to China to compete in the elite men’s division. After Monday’s qualifying round, the U.S. had again illustrated the depth which has it ranked number one in the world. Mike Day (Santa Clarita, Calif.), Kyle Bennett (Conroe, Texas) and Steven Cisar (Altadena, Calif.) claimed the top-three seeds as the only three riders to clock lap times under 37 seconds. Robinson qualified 16th, while Danny Calaug (China, Calif.) qualified 25th, Nicholas Long (Lakeside, Calif.) 27th, Randy Stumpfhauser (Sanger, Calif.) 29th and Tyler Brown (San Clemente, Calif.) 30th, giving the U.S. eight riders in the 32-man quarterfinal round. Four of those athletes – Day, Robinson, Bennett and Cisar – advanced to the semifinals, but only Robinson was able to secure a spot in the eight-man final where he faced de Wilde, Graves, Raymon van der Biezen (NED), Pablo Gutierrez (FRA), Martijn Scherpen (NED), Rob van den Wildenberg (NED) and Arturs Matisons (LAT). In the final, Robinson took advantage of a good start to enter the first of four turns in the lead and hold off the rest of the field, finishing 0.185 seconds ahead of de Wilde for the win. “The time trial didn’t go as well as I thought it should have, but that’s like having one bad lap at worlds”, Robinson said. “You just can’t think about it, especially with the weather and the amount of racing we did today. Mentally, the toughest rider out there wins most of the time and luckily I had the best lap in the main. This week’s competition gave the U.S. delegation an opportunity to preview the Olympic course and get a sense for what it will take to perform well at the Olympic Games next summer. “The Supercross races are technical and the courses are big, so the power riders don’t have an advantage with the big start ramp,” Robinson explained. “You really have to be a finess rider and hit all the rhythm straight-aways consistently. It takes an awesome rider just to get around this track and this one is the biggest that we’ve ridden.” Kintner, the 1997 UCI BMX World Champion and two-time 4-cross world champion in the sport of mountain biking (2005, 06), qualified eighth for the U.S. and was joined by Americans Amanda Geving (Largo, Fla.), Kim Hayashi (Chandler, Ariz.) and Arielle Martin (Clarksville, Tenn.) in the semifinals. Kintner was the only American to qualify for the eight-woman final where she lined up against Reade, Chausson, le Corguille, Diaz, Sarah Walker (NZL), Nicole Callisto (AUS) and Tanya Bailey (AUS). Kintner, who will defend her 4-cross title at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Scotland in two weeks, turned an impressive fifth-place finish considering her split schedule of mountain bike and BMX racing this season. 2007 UCI BMX Supercross World Cup #2 Beijing, China August 20-21 Elite Men 1. Donny Robinson (Napa, Calif.) 2. Robert de Wilde (NED) 3. Jared Graves (AUS) Elite Women 1. Shanaze Reade (GBR) 2. Anne-Caroline Chausson (FRA) 3. Laetitia le Corguille (FRA) 5. Jill Kintner (Seattle, Wash.) About USA Cycling Recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling promotes American cycling through its 60,000 members and 2,500 annual events. USA Cycling associations include the BMX Association (BMX), National Off-Road Bicycle Association (mountain bike), U.S. Cycling Federation (road/track), the National Collegiate Cycling Association and the U.S. Professional Racing Organization (professional men’s road). For more information, visit www.usacycling.org or contact USA Cycling Director of Communications, Andy Lee at 719-866-4867. |
*** Donny Robinson Eyes Olympic BMX Gold ***
NEW YORK, NY The Associated Press (AP) -- 12/25/2007
American is key part of top-ranked cycling team. 
Photo - American BMX racer Donny Robinson poses at USA Cycling's
Olympic training camp in Colorado Springs, Colo. The 24-year-old rider
from Napa, Calif., is one of the best BMX racers in the world and part of
a powerful American team that plans to dominate when the niche sport
hits the Olympic stage for the first time this summer in Beijing.
American cycling star Donny Robinson has heard it for years.
It seems like such simple physics. At 5-foot-5, isn't he too short
to be an elite BMX racer? Doesn't his 150-pound body simply lack
the strength and power to compete against men several inches taller,
50 or 60 pounds heavier and who have far more muscle packed onto
their frames?
Somehow, the answer is no.
"People have no clue what can be accomplished,"
Robinson said, "when you want something bad enough."
So next August in Beijing, Robinson wants to stand tall -
atop the medal podium with Olympic gold around his neck.
The 24-year-old rider from Napa, Calif., is one of the best BMX racers
in the world and part of a powerful American team that plans to dominate
when the niche sport hits the Olympic stage for the first time this summer.
The U.S. squad is ranked No. 1 by the International Cycling
Union, and the diminutive Robinson is a big reason why.
He's currently No. 2 in the worldwide BMX rankings - only behind fellow
American Mike Day - and won a test event at the newly built Beijing
Olympic track a few months back, giving him plenty of confidence
heading into the biggest year of his career.
If he gets one of USA Cycling's Olympic spots,
he'll be a gold medal favorite.
"When I first got to that track in Beijing, the place was completely
empty and my jaw was hanging for a good half an hour," Robinson
said. "It really hit me that this is the place. This is the place where
all my dreams can come true."
One of his dreams already is: BMX is going mainstream.
He was 6 when he started racing, and even into his late teens,
the Olympics wasn't something BMX racers like Robinson thought about.
Their sport - pedaling single-gear bikes on 350-meter dirt tracks with
steep start ramps, challenging jumps and banked curves - was thought
by many to be a long shot for the Olympic program.
But in 2003, the International Olympic Committee took notice of BMX's
surging popularity, particularly among young athletes, and added it to
the Beijing lineup.
Right then and there, Robinson's priorities immediately changed.
He abandoned the cliche, one-race-at-a-time approach that worked
for years. From now until August, it's all about the Olympics.
"Having the world finally see our abilities and realize that we've spent
our whole life to be at this point, it's just an amazing feeling," Robinson
said.
He makes BMX sound easy.
It's nothing close to easy anymore.
Gone are the days where the sport's "tricks" include relatively simple
things like wheelies, kickouts and bunnyhops. No, it takes a special
sort of athlete to survive in the sport now. Races are grueling and can
tend to mimic roller derby on dirt.
And the tracks - including the massive,
steep in Beijing - test everyone's limits.
Photo - American BMX racer Donny Robinson competes in
this undated photo. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/USA Cycling.
"I had a rider who was ranked in the top 10 in the world,"
said Pat McDonough, USA Cycling's director of athletics.
"We went to the Olympic track in Beijing, with its huge start ramp.
She got up there and retired. She got up there and froze for 45 minutes.
She told me that if this is where the sport is going, she's done. It's almost
at the point where you've got to be completely nuts ... freakin' crazy to
do this now."
Robinson doesn't describe himself as nuts or crazy.
But he races that way. He has to, or else winning wouldn't be an option.
Once riders leave the starting gate, the next few seconds on a BMX track
are, at best, controlled chaos. They're often side-by-side, inches apart,
pedaling furiously. They usually go over jumps en masse; if one racer
lands awkwardly and bobbles, then the riders trailing at that point
typically crash as well.
So there's tons of luck involved just to navigate the course while
remaining upright.
"It's like anything else," Robinson said.
"The more you work, the more successful you'll be."
His record - with a couple dozen race wins as a pro, a few
titles and the current No. 2 points ranking - has proved that.
It also proves that his size won't deter him from his
plans to climb that Olympic mountain in Beijing, either.
"These guys are bigger. So why don't they beat me every single time?
It's always in my mind," Robinson said. "So I train harder, I work harder
and it's all mental. If you let it get to you, then you've already lost the
race. And I won't let that happen."
CC - The Associated Press (AP).
Tim Reynolds, AP Sports Writer.
USA Cycling set to open new BMX training facility in Chula Vista
Colorado Springs, Colo. (January 16, 2008)—USA Cycling is set to open its new BMX training facility at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. with an athlete exhibition and ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday, January 21, the national governing body announced today.
Seven of the United States’ top BMX athletes and 2008 Olympic hopefuls are scheduled to attend, including three-time world champion and top-ranked American Kyle Bennett (Conroe, Texas), Donny Robinson (Napa, Calif.), Mike Day (Santa Clarita, Calif.), Steven Cisar (Altadena, Calif.), Jill Kintner (Seattle, Wash.), Arielle Martin (Pleasant Grove, Utah) and Amanda Geving (Largo, Fla.).
Monday’s event is open to the public and media are invited to attend. The event will begin at 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time with a one-hour media availability session. A ribbon cutting ceremony will follow at 1:00 pm with athletes, USA Cycling and U.S. Olympic Committee officials. The event will then conclude with a demonstration of the newest Olympic sport by those expected to contend for medals in Beijing.
"The opening of the USA Cycling BMX training facility in Chula Vista highlights the importance of the close partnership between the USOC and USA Cycling in the continued development of the sport of BMX," said Steve Johnson, CEO of USA Cycling. “This facility not only represents the current state-of-the-art in BMX training centers, but will continue to evolve over time to keep pace with the rapid evolution of international BMX racing."
“The grand opening represents an exciting opportunity for our BMX athletes,” added Mike King, USA Cycling's Director of BMX Programs and former world champion. “This venue was designed specifically for our elite athletes and is expected to set the standard for other countries to follow. The ultimate goal when contributing to the design, construction and financing of the facility was to accurately replicate the Beijing track and hopefully bring home some medals from the Games.”
Kintner, a BMX and three-time 4-cross mountain bike world champion, has been at the Olympic Training Center since early December as a member of USA Cycling’s resident athlete program. As an experienced rider, she's seen and rode on several of the world’s best courses including the one in Beijing.
"It’s going to be such an advantage having this replica track in our backyard," she said. "The Olympic Training Center has opened my eyes to what the possibilities could be towards an Olympic dream, and they have provided an incredible resource. In my normal life, meeting all these different athletes and learning from those who have been to the Olympics before just wouldn’t have been available. This environment has plenty of positive motivation to train hard."
The course in Chula Vista was built by Tom Ritzenthaler, who also built the BMX track that will be used for the sport’s Olympic debut in Beijing this August. Ritzenthaler, a 33-year-old veteran BMX competitor, has built dozens of BMX tracks around the world, but USA Cycling’s training facility in Chula Vista is the only course that currently replicates the UCI Supercross style that Olympic athletes will see in Beijing. The course is also the only permanent Supercross structure in the nation. Completed in January, the track will offer training and competition grounds for some of the top American BMX athletes as they prepare to qualify for this summer’s Olympic Games