The Kilo is dead, long live BMX

At the time that this issue went to press, the UCI’s decision to replace the men’s kilometer and women’s 500m track time trials with men’s and women’s BMX in the Olympic Games had driven thousands of kilo and 500m fans around the world to sign an online petition demanding that the UCI reconsider.

The UCI’s response? “Hate on, haters.”

On the heels of the ProTour’s inception, the UCI has once again come under fire from the purists for making a progressive and financially logical decision. It may have gone something like this…

UCI: “Hey International Olympic Committee, can we get BMX in the Olympics?”
IOC: “Ok, but you can’t increase the overall number of medals awarded in cycling.”
UCI: [to kilo and 500m] “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

BMX needs to be in the Olympics. The worldwide fan base for cycling is getting older, and BMX is a very popular form of bicycle racing among people who weren’t yet alive when man first walked on the moon. And let’s not forget that BMX takes almost as much physiology as, say, the kilometer, plus a hell of a lot more bike handling. So it’s not like the UCI is making fixed-gear skidding an Olympic sport.

But when the all-but-omnipotent IOC declared that the number of cycling medals was set in stone, the UCI had a simple choice: scratch existing events from the Olympic programme or forget about BMX in Beijing.

Taking a look at all the track events, why keep the Kilo and 500m? Only a handful of athletes in the world are remotely competitive in either discipline and – if you’ve never watched these events in person – I’ll let you in on a little secret: they’re really boring.

It takes about three coaches in oh-so-slimming teal tracksuits to lift some muscle-bound dude onto his bike, the PA announcer says some stuff in French, there’s a series of loud beeps, the guy grunts like he’s passing a kidney stone, he goes really fast for about 45 seconds, he looks like he’s going to die for about 20 seconds, and then its over. And then it’s the next guy’s turn. The women’s 500m is pretty much the same, except they skip the last 20 seconds.

There’s no strategy, no tactics, no crashes, no other riders on the track – as my ex-coach says, “The kilo is for sprinters who are afraid of traffic.” And we’re supposed to keep this event and the 500m at the expense of BMX? Young, exciting, watchable BMX?

And let’s take a look at that online petition: “This [decision] … will curtail the careers of many dedicated track cyclists and could impact on public funding for track cycling in the form of either direct state funding or indirect state funding via sports governing bodies or Olympic programmes.”

Granted, it’s a real bummer for a few world-class kilo and 500m riders. But let’s be realistic, there are a lot more BMX racers who’ll benefit from their sport’s inclusion in the Olympics than there are kilo/500m specialists who’ll be disadvantaged by their discipline’s exclusion.

Furthermore, the petition admits that track cycling is often forced to rely on public funding, and it’s hard to make an economic case against replacing a sport that relies on taxpayer handouts with a sport that has a developed pro scene and pays for itself.

I sympathize with the athletes, but replacing the kilometer and 500m with BMX makes Olympic cycling more spectator-friendly, telegenic and exciting while bringing a new crop of fans into the fold. As with the ProTour, the UCI has made a tough decision that’s a net benefit for world cycling.