ISIDORE: TOKYO SUCCESS A BIG LEAP FOR BMX
QUILLAN ISIDORE admits he shed a tear watching his team-mates win Olympic medals in Tokyo, and says their success will do wonders for the sport in the UK.
Beth Shriever won BMX racing gold at the recent Games while Kye Whyte – a club-mate of Isidore’s at Peckham in south London – took silver in the men’s event.
Charlotte Worthington added gold in the women’s freestyle to complete what felt like a breakthrough Olympics for the sport in this country.
Along with skateboarding, where 13-year-old Sky Brown landed park bronze for Great Britain, BMX has helped the Olympics reach out to a new, younger demographic and Isidore himself will aim for Paris in three years.
The 24-year-old, who grew up in Streatham but is now based in Manchester, did not qualify for Tokyo but, just back from last week’s world championships where he finished 21st, told Metro he was incredibly moved by what his friends achieved.
‘Pretty much all of us in the team cried watching Kye and Beth,’ he said. ‘I’ve been on the journey with them, been around the world with them.
‘I’ve known Kye since I was six and Beth since I was nine – we’ve grown up together and I know exactly what they go through. ‘Around the world in BMX we are just one big family and our team is renowned for the close relationships we have, whatever the result.’
Isidore may have had to sit this Olympics out but he knows the significance to grassroots BMX and added: ‘Now we’ve been successful as a nation at an Olympic Games, it has put BMX on the map in this country. Now the Olympics is more appealing to young people.
‘The coverage was everywhere – in the news and in the papers – and people could see it is a great sport to watch.
‘It was an eye-opener for the younger generation, I believe.’
Isidore is passionate about the progression of BMX racing and admits the pandemic has not been kind to his beloved sport. ‘Before Covid, the numbers at the national championships were the highest they had ever been,’ he said.
‘This year, those numbers really dropped. I knew it would happen but it was still sad to see.
‘Now, we are back up to 1,300 registered riders and that is great news.’