FATBMX Your Online BMX News Resource Since 1998

The Olympics qualifying period started on 1 November 2018 and will go until 11 May of 2020. That means we're 6 months in and we've got 12 to go. We decided to give you an update on who is doing well at the moment and who are on the bubble making it to the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020. But first things first. A little explanation of how this works is needed. Only 9 spots are available for Men and Women at the first Olympic Games in Tokyo. Clearly, that's not a lot, especially when you know hundreds of riders are trying to make it there. During the Qualification period several events count where riders can score points for their nation. The nation ranking in the end is used to see which countries have conquered a spot to ride in Tokyo. The two best ranked riders per nation form the Nation ranking. Their points get added up and that way it's clear to see where their nation is ranked. For the moment the nation ranking looks like this.

Men:
1 AUSTRALIA 6230
2 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 5390
3 GREAT BRITAIN 3458
4 BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA 3360
5 RUSSIAN FEDERATION 3300
6 COSTA RICA 2210

How Eddy King stood strong and made the comeback of his life Injuries are very much a part of life for competitive cyclists. The weeks, months and sometimes even years required to heal after severe trauma can send even the most hardened humans into a spiral of depression. Yet from pain can come strength, not only to survive but to live life to its very fullest again.

Traveling the world racing BMX is a dream for many youngsters growing up. The idea of racing all the good tracks in different countries is the lifestyle they chase. Gathering enough interesting photos from being on the road to share on Instagram and Facebook will sure bring extra followers to the personal social media platforms. Antics for Snapchat aplenty. We have to admit, traveling is a big part of BMX racing. Seeing different nations, learning new languages, experiencing the cultures, eating different food, it is all part of it. That one bond that you have in common, the BMX bike, opens up doors and friendships for life are started.

But traveling isn’t always fun while it’s happening. Checking in the bike at the airlines for instance is usually a drag even if you are using a golf bag to fool the person behind the desk. If you’re the 30^th person showing up with a Golf bag after the race is over chances are that they’ve found out there are no golf clubs in the bag but BMX bikes and an extra fee gets charged. Key is to show up as the first one and you might get away with it, or use a bag that doesn’t look like a bike can fit inside.

It’s tricks you learn over the years. Do you still rent rooms in a hotel for the entire team? Try renting someone’s house for the weekend and you can cook your own food, do laundry on a muddy day, use the dryer and play some games. See how people live in different countries by being part of it. If you know someone lives close to the track, check if you can stay there and return the favor when the race is near your house.