What Does BMX Stand For And When Did It Get Added To The Olympics?

Interest in the BMX has evolved from a teenage craze in California to a full-blown Olympic event, with Team GB proving to be medal-worthy at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The BMX bike is very different from a more traditional bicycle – for starters, a BMX is much smaller.

The design is compact, strong, lightweight and manoeuvrable, making it ideal for pulling tricks and rigorous off-road riding. 

But what does BMX actually stand for, and how did the sport begin?

Here is everything you need to know…

What does BMX stand for?

BMX is an acronym for Bicycle Moto Cross and originated in the 1970s when kids started racing their bikes on dirt tracks in southern California.

Influenced by their motocross idols, Californian kids were keen to recreate the same kind of excitement they were seeing in their favourite sport, but it wasn’t long until BMX-riding became a phenomenon in its own right.

By the mid-’70s, BMX fans were racing around purpose-built tracks in California, as BMX fever started to spread across the country.

The craze made its way to the UK in the early ’80s, with the popularity of BMX bikes around the world bolstered by characters riding them in the 1982 blockbuster classic E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

In 1981, the International BMX Federation was founded, and the first world championships were held in 1982, with the sport evolving into two separate styles – racing and freestyle.

The boom in popularity across the 80s cemented BMX as a sport all its own, becoming integrated into the Union Cycliste Internationale – the world governing body for all sports cycling – in 1993.

Not bad for a sport started by a bunch of kids on a dirt track!

When did BMX get added to the Olympics?

It was at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games that BMX made its Olympics debut, and it has been a part of the Games ever since.

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It had originally only been a racing event, but with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, a new freestyle category has now been added.

Niek Kimmann of the Netherlands won gold in the men’s race at Tokyo 2020, while Great Britain’s Beth Shriever claimed the top honours in the women’s.

The freestyle events are set to take place on July 31 and August 1.

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