A stellar mixture of elite and rising Australian BMX stars made their way to the United States of America recently to take on some of the worlds best riders at the USA Grand Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The strong Australian contingent took on 2,000 entrants vying for the six-foot trophies and the final shot at a National Age Group (NAG) or National ranking, in what is the largest BMX race anywhere in the world.

Reigning World Champion Sam Willoughby entered the final round of the series leading the National ranking in the men’s AA pro division, attempting to become the third man in history to win four number 1 pro cups, and be only the second man in history to win three in a row. However after winning his previous nine races leading up to the event, it wasn’t to be, relinquishing the title and ranking to good friend Maris Strombergs after crashing out in the semi final.

It wasn’t all bad news for Willoughby though, who was presented the prestigious Golden Crank award for 2014 Pro of the Year, as voted for by USA BMX and BMX Canada members.

Also competing in the AA pro division was fellow South Australian Anthony Dean, where he finished sixth. It was a breakthrough year for Dean who finished second at the Subaru BMX National Championships in April, second in the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup series, and recorded 21 main events (finals) for the year.

In what was a demonstration as to the power of our up and coming Australian representatives, a number of BMX Australia Development Academy riders recorded strong performances, including rising young guns Tristan Kronk and Corey Frieswyk, as well as fellow Queenslander Luke Hombsh, joining Willoughby and Dean in the AA pro division, who will all be better for the experience moving forward, as is national shadow squad rider Esther Woodward who made the quarterfinals of the strong 17-20 girls division.

Matthew Willoughby held his own and rode superbly to finish on the podium in third in the A pro division while Kerrod Connors reached the quarterfinals.

16 year old Matt White rewrote the wrongs of last year where he crashed out, by finishing on the podium in third in the 16 boys expert division, capping off a memorable week that also included the 16 years boys title at the Victorian State Championships.

Felicia Thomas finished fourth in the 13 girls division while Jye Hombsh and Josh McLean finished fifth and sixth respectively in the final of the 15-16 open division and Dylan Scruton came home seventh in the 15 boys expert division.

The brother and sister combination of Aislynn and Ronan Weber also performed well, with Aislynn making the semi-final of the 16 years girls whilst Ronan made the 1/8 round in the challenging 14 years boys expert division.

Congratulations also to the many other Australian riders of all age groups with over 50 Australians competing in this year’s event.

Such promising results reflects the depth of talent in Australia, and the continued interest in the development opportunities the range of competition, formats and experience the US events have to offer. Attention now turns to the 2015 season and the BMX Australia National series, which gets underway in Nerang on January 2, 2015.