BMX rider sets his sights on a Paris Olympics gold

Kieran Reilly wearing a helmet and hanging onto his bike on a quarter pipe

By Martin Heath

BBC News, Northamptonshire

A BMX rider said he had dedicated the last three years towards his dream of winning a gold medal at the Paris Olympics.

Kieran Reilly of Corby, Northamptonshire, trains at the town’s internationally renowned urban sports venue, Adrenaline Alley.

Last year, the 22-year-old became the first British man to become BMX freestyle park world champion.

He made history when he was the first to perform a ‘triple flair’ in 2022.

Kieran Reilly wearing a helmet and sitting on this bike

Reilly, originally from Gateshead, started riding when he was eight.

He said: “You haven’t got the fear when you’re a kid, so I took a lot more crashes… probably better than I would now.

“When you finally get a trick after that, it’s like a pride feeling and I just fell in love with that.”

Reilly moved to Corby so he would be close to Adrenaline Alley and he spends as much time as possible there.

He said: “I feel that my bike’s like a part of my body – I’m on it so much.”

GB's Kieran Reilly spins his bike in mid-air in the BMX freestyle park event at the European Games

Two years ago, he hit the BMX headlines when he completed the first ever ‘triple flair’ which involved going up a quarter pipe, doing three back flips, rotating 180 degrees before coming back down the quarter pipe.

He admitted that he “drastically underestimated the trick and went on a mental journey that I never expected”.

He said: “I felt that I’d been carrying lead weights around on my shoulders or something, and, when I finished, I’d never had a feeling like it.

“I’m hoping Paris gold comes close but that was like a mental feeling.”

Last year, he made history again when he took the first Team GB gold medal in the European Championships and became the first ever British male BMX freestyle park world champion.

Kieran Reilly in black cycling gear wearing a helmet and just about to land back on the ramp

Reilly has not yet officially qualified for the Paris Olympics but was expected to do so over the next couple of months and was likely to be one of the favourites.

He said: “The people you see at Paris who are the favourites will be people who dedicate pretty much their whole life to the sport.

“I feel that that’s what I’ve done with Paris – for the last three years, dedicating everything to this one event.

“I know when I go there I’m leaving nothing on the table and I’m going for the top spot.”