Godet & van den Wildenberg take Redline’s to Olympic Final

With four REDLINE Global Team members - Damien Godet (France), Manuel DeVecchi (Italy), Rob van den WILDENBERG and Raymon van der BEIZEN (both from The Netherlands) in the Semi’s, there was the rare possibility that Flight bikes could’ve filled half of the gate in the Olympic main.

But REDLINE would gladly settle for 2 out of the 8.

After three rounds of thrills and spills in the Mens Semis, only two RL reps would make the cut to the big O’show. Dutch dominator ROB van den WILDENBERG and French ripper DAMIEN GODET found themselves on the main stage, lining up against some of the toughest competition they’ll ever meet - Day, Robinson, Latvia’s Stromsburg, Aussie Graves, Jiminez and South African Nihlapo.

GT Bicycles is proud to announce that team rider Mike Day has won the silver medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing China! Teammate Jill Kintner, the sole American woman competing in BMX, won the bronze medal in the women’s race.

Santa Clarita, CA’s Day earned silver medal honors with his brilliant racing at the Laoshan BMX Complex tonight. Fighting his way through qualifiers, quarterfinals and semifinals amongst a field of 32 of the world’s best BMX Race competitors, Mike found himself among the top eight riders on the planet battling for a top three finish. Riding his GT Power Series Ultra Box with custom Team USA graphics, Mike had a strong start and it looked like he could break away from the pack right out of the gate. Facing stiff competition from Latvia’s Maris Stromberg, Mike’s unbelievable speed on the bike kept him in a significant second place position for the entire race, giving him an impressive silver medal victory.

“It was amazing! So much effort, time and training went into this and I can’t believe it is over,” said Day after his silver medal finish. “The experience is overwhelming and great for our sport.”

The first Olympic BMX event is over and the medals are dealt out. The world champion Maris Strombergs has been on fire the whole season and he has proven this yet again at the track in Beijing. He won all of his semi final runs which had secured him for the best spot on the gate. In the finals Strombergs took the holeshot and rode to victory, bringing the first gold medal to Latvia.

Mike Day won his semifinals heat, but couldn't pass Strombergs in the finals, giving him a silver medal at the Olympics. The bronze medal was for the American Donny Robinson, he didn't have a good start position but still made it to the top 3. Sifiso Nhlapo of South Africa slipped in the second corner after the huge double, taking Damien Godet of France and Australia's Jared Graves with him. There will be some videos posted of the finals soon so don't be a stranger.


Pics: Liang Qiang/Xinhua, Phil Walter/Getty Images, Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

The finals and semi finals of the Olympic BMX event is rescheduled to tomorrow 22 august, because of the bad weather. Seen on the website of the Dutch elite rider Sander Bisseling, for more information you should check his website at www.sanderbisseling.com.

For the people who can receive the Dutch channel, the finals broadcast 22 august, from 03.00h till 05.15h on Nederland 1.

First four riders per heat transfer to the semi-finals to be held tomorrow 20 August 2008. Heat Rank Bike Number Name NOC Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Total.

Heat 1
1 365 DAY Mike United States 36.170 (1) 36.080 (1) 36.122 (1) 3 Q
2 777 WILLERS Marc New Zealand 47.614 (4) 36.253 (3) 36.278 (2) 9 Q
3 10 ROBINSON Donny United States 48.906 (6) 36.235 (2) 36.490 (3) 11 Q
4 717 JIMENEZ Andres Colombia 36.619 (2) 36.939 (5) 36.660 (4) 11 Q

5 8 SUAREZ FREITEZ Jonathan Fernando Venezuela 53.614 (8) 36.481 (4) 36.789 (5) 17

6 50 FALLA Emilio Ecuador37.080 (3) 37.381 (6) 1:02.877 (8) 17
7 57 SAKAMOTO Akifumi Japan 48.487 (5) 42.614 (8) 40.046 (6) 19
8 256 LAKUCS Ivo Latvia 53.300 (7) 39.213 (7) 57.461 (7) 21

Heat 2
1 105 NHLAPO Sifiso South Africa 36.796 (3) 36.325 (2) 36.507 (1) 6 Q
2 114 MATISONS Arturs Latvia 35.903 (1) 36.819 (3) 37.037 (2) 6 Q
3 121 van der BIEZEN Raymon Netherlands 37.205 (4) 35.878 (1) 1:04.709 (5) 10 Q
4 88 BENNETT Kyle United States 36.639 (2) 37.146 (4) DNF (8) 14 Q

NBC coverage schedule for the upcoming Olympic BMX events!

August 20, 2008 - 12:30am - 2:00am EST
Late night (LIVE) BMX cycling, elite men’s 1/4 finals.
August 20, 2008 - 8:00pm - 12:00am EST
Prime time (LIVE) cycling’s BMX finals.
August 21, 2008 - 2:00am - 5:00am EST
Prime time Replay BMX finals.

BMX cycling fans can follow all the cycling action via streaming video online at www.nbcolympics.com or either live or via tape delay on several NBC networks.

Eurosport coverage schedule
August 21, 2008 - morning 04:00 GMT (30 min)
BMX: Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, finals.

British Eurosport coverage schedule
August 21, 2008 - morning 05:00 UK Time (30 min)
Live Olympic BMX

Eurosport HD coverage schedule
August 21, 2008 - morning 05:00 UK Time (30 min)
Live Olympic BMX

Here is the timetable of the BMX event at the olympics.

Tuesday, Aug 19, 2008 5:00pm – Warm-Up 6:00pm – 7:00pm Time Trials Rd#1 7:15pm – 8:15pm Time Trials – Rd#2 8:40pm – Men’s Quarter #1 9:05pm – Men’s Quarter #2 9:30pm – Men’s Quarter #3

Wednesday, Aug 20, 2008 5:00pm – Warm-Up 6:00pm – Womens’s Semi #1 6:10pm – Men’s Semi #1 6:30pm – Womens’s Semi # 6:40pm – Men’s Semi #2 7:00pm – Womens’s Semi #3 7:10pm – Men’s Semi #3 7:15pm – 7:30pm Break 7:30pm – Women’s Final 7:40pm – Men’s Final 8:00pm – Medal Ceremony

Today we got an email with some cool info about the "Speedy Reedy" machine, Shanaze Reade. She's going to the BMX Olympics in style with her custom-painted BMX. Check it out.

UK/Redline’s SHANAZE READE is all set to be a part of BMX Racing’s big long-awaited Olympic debut, after British Cycling finished assembly her custom-painted Redline Flight bike. So, here are your first peaks at what all of Great Britain, and everyone at Redline, hopes will be the GOLD MEDAL winning Redline in Elite Women – on August 21st.

“On Monday July 21st, I was released from Redline Bicycles. With my injuries and recent surgery, I was unable to fulfill my obligations under the current contract. After 8 years with Redline, I want to thank them for everything they've done for me. I wish all my teammates the best in the future and will always consider them my teammates. As for me, I will be back and stronger then ever... you haven't seen the last of me. While the chapter of my racing career with Redline is closed, I look forward to beginning a new chapter with a new sponsor. I would like to thank my sponsors that have shown their continued support, VISA, NIKE, Kronik, Lizard Skins and Industrial. To all the Bubba Harris fans, I look forward to seeing you at the track very soon. I know this experience will make me a better person and BMXer in the future.” Bubba

UCI BMX World Championships Gearing up for the Olympics on Freecaster.tv

Freecaster, the largest online video media for action sports will webcast live the UCI BMX World Championships from Taiyuan, China.

The sport of BMX is now in the Olympics.That's great news for BMX fans and great news for Freecaster.tv who just this year began covering UCI BMX racing events. The webcasts from Madrid, Adelaide and Copenhagen attracted thousands of viewers from all over the world. Now, in anticipation of the Beijing Olympics in August, riders and fans alike will have the chance to experience the racing in China.

Top riders competing on the men's side include Kyle Bennett (USA), Luke Madill (AUS), Michal Prokop, (CZ), Donny Robinson (USA) and Yvan Lapraz, (CH) and in the women's Sarah Walker (NZ) and Shanaze Reade (UK). The riders who finish with the top 12 scores on the men's side and top eight scores on the women's side will qualify to compete in the Beijing Olympics. The remaining spots will be decided by the International Cycling Union on June 6.

Freecaster.tv was the first on H.264 and now the first to stream live in h.264, what can be called web HD. To get the best from Freecaster make sure you have the latest version of Flash 9 and a minimum ADSL 1.2 mbit/s or cable Internet connection.

The Live stream will begin Saturday, May 31 at 9:30 (CET) with the 1/8th finals. Go to http://www.freecaster.tv/1000002_1004661 to watch the Live.