Excitement is mounting ahead of the 2021 UCI BMX World Championships on 22 August at Papendal, the Netherlands, a Centre for Elite Sports and Education, that has hosted UCI BMX Supercross World Cups for the past 10 years.
With the UCI World Championships coming just a few weeks after the Olympic Games, the racers who performed at Tokyo should all be in good shape, and will be looking to continue good form or even the score in the pursuit of the UCI rainbow jersey.
Australians Lauren Reynolds, Izaac Kennedy and Jack Davis are set to fly the flag for Australia at the world championships, with Reynolds coming off an impressive fifth at the Tokyo Olympics. Saya Sakakibara was scheduled to compete, but pulled out after suffering a concussion during the Olympics.
Those that caught a glimpse of the BMX Racing on the 495 metre BMX track at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will have seen the best of BMX on show, the drama and the intensity of fast racing around a technical circuit.
The track was in perfect condition and provided for some of the most exciting and fast-paced BMX racing seen on the Olympic stage. With the six medallists in the elite men's and women's due to take the start at the 2021 UCI BMX World Championships, the stage is set for an exciting rerun of the Tokyo Olympic Games in Europe.
Gold medallist Niek Kimmann (NED) will be on home soil and will be a top contender for the rainbow jersey after finishing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games BMX final in a time of just 39.053 seconds. This was the fastest lap over the whole Olympic program of all riders and was over a much longer track than the Papendal centre offers.
Bethany Shriever (UK) won the gold medal in the women's and has backed up her mixture of celebration and preparation into the world championships.
Another Olympic favourite was Mariana Pajón (COL) who took home the silver medal from Tokyo, having won gold in the past two editions of London 2012 and Rio 2016.
Local Merel Smulders (NED) will be looking to show her skills when on the track with older sister Laura Smulders (NED), who took won the bronze medal in London 2012.
Both sisters now have Olympic bronze medals, there will be potentially a bit of sibling rivalry on the track this weekend.
The UCI BMX World Championships finals will be live and free via SBS On Demand, with the fast-paced racing action set to light up your screens from 9:15pm (AEST) on Sunday evening, August 22.
