BMX (an acronym for Bicycle Motocross) is a form of cycling on specially designed bicycles which usually have 18 to 24-inch wheels (the norm being the 20-inch wheel). The sport includes racing on earthen tracks, known as BMX racing, as well as the performance of tricks on the bikes, called BMX freestyle.
Freestyle BMX has grown to include five distinct disciplines. These are Street, Park, Vert, Dirt, and Flatland. These usually involve technical movements of the bike in different ways over varied terrain. There are also three disciplines which are participated in mainly by riders who are not affiliated with the major BMX organizations or sponsored events. These are High Jump, Leap Of Faith and Drag.
Recently, BMX racing's international governing body, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), began sponsoring the UCI BMX World Championships. In 2008, BMX racing will enter the Olympics for the first time in Beijing, China.
History
BMX originated in the state of California, United States in the late 1970s, when teenagers imitated their motocross heroes on their bicycles.[2] However, similar movements were gaining momentum in Europe as early as 1958. Children were racing standard road bikes off-road, around purpose-built tracks in Holland. The 1971 motorcycle racing documentary On Any Sunday is generally credited with inspiring the movement nationally in the US. In the opening scene, kids are shown riding their Schwinn Stingrays off-road. It was not until the middle of that decade that the sport achieved critical mass, and manufacturers began creating bicycles designed specially for the sport.
By 1977, the American Bicycle Association (ABA) was organized as a national sanctioning body for the growing sport.[2] BMX was introduced in Europe in 1978. In April 1981, the International BMX Federation was founded, and the first world championships were held in 1982. Since January 1993 BMX has been integrated into the Union Cycliste Internationale.
Over the last decade, the popularity of BMX has grown immensely. It is now one of the staple events at the annual X Games Extreme Sports competition held largely on the Western seaboard of the United States.
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