BMXers Vie for Spot on Inaugural Olympic Team

Long Seen as Irreverent, Sport Was Added to Draw Youngsters

CHULA VISTA, Calif., June 13 -- Always the littlest guy in his class, Donny Robinson found his childhood passion outside mainstream stick-and-ball sports -- in BMX racing, gymnastics, dancing and singing.

Of the bunch, only gymnastics had a shot at landing him in the Olympics. So at 13, he poured his heart into that, inspired by the gutsy performance of the Magnificent Seven at the 1996 Atlanta Games, in which a hobbled Kerri Strug led the United States to its first team gold.

It was a pity that Robinson, now 24, never blossomed as gymnast. But it proved serendipitous that he didn't give up on BMX. Who would have guessed a dozen years ago that the tradition-bound International Olympic Committee would add BMX -- long deemed an underground, irreverent form of cycling -- to the 2008 Beijing Games? And who could have predicted that Robinson would carve his place atop the sport's global pecking order at precisely that moment?

On Saturday, Robinson will battle for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team and the realization of a childhood dream. On a virtual replica of Beijing's daunting BMX course that has been constructed just south of San Diego, seven riders will compete in five races, none lasting more than 40 seconds. The rider who accumulates the most points at day's end locks in the second spot on the three-man Olympic team. Three-time world champion Kyle Bennett secured his berth based on his dominance this season. The sole Beijing-bound U.S. woman, Jill Kintner, has already been named.

Should Robinson fall short Saturday, he still could draw the final spot on the BMX team, to be awarded at the coaches' discretion. But he's leaving nothing to chance in this roulette-style competition, in which years of training and preparation can get trashed in the mayhem that breaks out when a half-dozen cyclists burst out of a starting gate 3 1/2 stories high and battle around hairpin turns and over spectacular jumps elbow to elbow.

"When you're in the middle of a pack, it's like being in rush-hour traffic that you can't get out of -- most of the time, with some really bad drivers," Robinson said. "It's something that you can't really describe even after the race; it's something that happens only in the moment."

It is precisely that quality -- the wild unpredictability and invariable contact in a BMX race -- that appealed to IOC power brokers in 2003, when they voted to add the sport to the Olympic menu. BMX, IOC President Jacques Rogge said, would make the Games relevant to a younger demographic.

If Rogge is correct, the sport could be the darling of Beijing, doing for NBC and the Summer Games what the addition of freestyle skiing and snowboarding did for the Winter Olympics. Closer to home, BMX enthusiasts are banking that the sport's Olympic status will raise its profile among U.S. youngsters and spawn BMX parks coast to coast.

"The Olympics has brought some legitimacy to what these kids do and respect to what they do," said Tari Hayes of Albany, Ore., parent of a 15-year-old rider and an official with the city's parks and recreation department, which is weighing construction of a $200,000 BMX park. "These Olympians had to start somewhere."

U.S. sports fans can get a glimpse of Olympic-style BMX racing at noon Sunday, when MSNBC televises Saturday's trials. It is a breathtaking burst, taking a universal childhood pastime to speeds and daring few can imagine.

Just imagine Elliott, the winsome little boy in "E.T.," as a full grown Olympic athlete. BMX would surely have been his sport. BMXers soar over jumps just as Elliott soared past the face of the moon on his tiny bike, blessed with flight by the alien who longed to go home. But to contend for an Olympic medal, the adult Elliott would have had to develop enough competitive fire to throw an elbow in traffic and not mind crashing to earth.

BMX is a contact sport, with little grace involved. Despite helmets and fully padded suits, injuries are common.

Bubba Harris, 22, the 2005 world champion, will testify as much. Harris nearly had his left foot amputated after a horrendous crash in the Olympic test event in Beijing last summer. His bike flew one way, his body another, while his foot stayed attached to the clip. Harris recovered sufficiently to enter the trials but broke a bone in his right ankle during training Thursday.

That reputation for danger, as well as misgivings about the kids who raced these bikes with total abandon, concerned Hayes when her son said he wanted to give up basketball in favor of BMX after the family moved to Oregon from North Carolina.

"I thought those were the bad kids who couldn't concentrate enough to do a regular sport," Hayes said. "But when I met them, they're normal kids. In our town, they don't tend to come from the most affluent part of town, and riding for them is a way to get out, hang out, get exercise, make friends and show off."

That's the sort of response Bob Tedesco envisioned when he started lobbying for BMX's inclusion in the Olympics nearly 30 years ago.

"I'll be honest, it didn't hurt that NBC was saying to the Olympic people, 'Hey, we need more action-oriented, youth-oriented sports,' " said Tedesco, managing director of the National Bicycle League. Now, Tedesco is pressing for the addition of freestyle BMX in the 2012 London Games, though the sport's national governing body, USA Cycling, is focusing on staging a memorable debut in Beijing.

"This is our chance to really bring the sport to the world and gives kids and parents other avenues to really express themselves," Robinson said. "Not everyone likes to play baseball and football. We are going to show the world we are great people and great athletes at the same time."