What Is the Meaning of BMX?

A professional BMX rider

BMX or bicycle motocross refers to the extreme sport of racing bicycles on motocross tracks. BMX can also refer to the actual bicycle designed for motocross racing. It is a popular sport worldwide and made its Olympic debut in the 2008 Beijing Summer Games.

United States Origin

A BMX rider coming off of a jump

BMX began in the late 1960s in Southern California when children and teenagers began racing their bicycles on dirt tracks. Inspired by motocross, these young riders constructed tracks with similar obstacles as professional circuit tracks. They soon began imitating the motocross uniform and named their sport BMX. The sport quickly gained popularity across California, offering a low cost activity that children could partake in close to home. According to the Union Cycliste Internationale, the sport was officially recognized in the early 1970s when the American sanctioning body to BMX racing was founded.

International Recognition

The International BMX Federation was founded in April 1981 and the first world championships for the sport were held in 1982. Soon after, BMX developed its own sporting style and began to share more in common with other cycling events than it did with its root sport, motocross. In 1993, BMX became completely integrated in the Union Cycliste Internationale, a Swiss-based international oversight organization for all forms of cycling.

Modern Competition

World Cup BMX races are held on 300-meter to 400-meter circuits with an 8-meter-high starting ramp, various jumps and banked corners. The racing events have only two competitor categories, junior and elite. The races are very demanding, requiring technical skills and experience to safely race on the various jumps and obstacles. Eight competitors are allowed to race at once in a "heat," and the number of heats per event varies by the number of competitors. World Cup BMX races can have more than 150 riders per class.

Debut as an Olympic Event

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) made BMX a full medal Olympic Event in 2003, which appeared in the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing. In the 2008 Games, the first gold medalists were Māris Štrombergs (male) for Latvia and Anne-Caroline Chausson (female) for France. According to the IOC, the sport will continue to be featured in all upcoming Summer Olympics, including the 2012 London Games.

Bicycle Specifications

Detail of a BMX back wheel

The BMX bike used by competitors is much different from the average bicycle. The bike frames are made out of aluminum at the competitive level to save weight. The wheel size is most commonly a 36-spoke, 20-inch wheel for the elite class, designed to absorb more impact when jumping. BMX bikes also use a smaller gear ratio compared with the average bicycle--instead of 44/16, they use 36/13, 30/11, 25/9 and 23/8. The smaller gear ratio allows for more clearance on the bike and also allows the bike to be a lighter weight.

References

• UCI: A Short History of BMX
• Olympic.org: Cycling BMX Equipment and History