LOCAL BMXers have gained the upper hand in the lead-up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympics, being only a few pedals away from the recently announced national cycling Centre of Excellence at Sleeman Sports Complex.
This will be the first confirmed “Olympic legacy infrastructure” for the region, aimed at providing lasting benefits for the community after the Olympics end.
President of the volunteer-run Bayside BMX Club, Sean O’Connor, said his club, just a few minutes’ drive from the facility, used the Brisbane SX BMX Centre at Sleeman regularly.
“It’s a supercross track, it’s pretty crazy compared to your regular public access track. We like to grab the track several times a year and introduce our younger riders to it.”
Mr O’Connor said that before the Rio Olympics, when the competitors came into the area to train, no one knew they were coming.
This time around, having a funded program means more opportunity to learn from the best.
The national cycling Centre of Excellence will also focus on the track sprint program at the existing Anna Meares Velodrome at Sleeman.
The Queensland Government did not comment on whether new pathway programs or facilities for both track sprint and BMX racing would be provided as part of the announcement.
Both the Anna Meares Velodrome and the BMX facilities at the Sleeman Sports Complex have already been upgraded prior to this latest announcement.
“Even if (the program) is strictly a high-performance thing, that capability is established there. I mean, no one’s said anything and there’s no promises, but having all that capability and horsepower in town, it always translates into something for the smaller ones, you know,” Mr O’Connor said.
“Having it just around the corner, it’s amazing.”
The Bayside BMX president said an internal release promised the partnership between the Queensland Academy of Sport and the state would see the “QAS double its investment in cycling”, with “lots of focus on development and preparation for the athletes”.
Jamie Guard, president of Redlands BMX Club which is also very close to Sleemans, said he had not heard of the specific Centre of Excellence announcement, but was excited nonetheless.
“Sleeman’s is always going to be “the track”, you know. It’s purpose built.”
Currently, the 2032 Olympic BMX freestyle events are set to be held at Victoria Park, where a “temporary venue will be prepared shortly before the Games commence”.
