*** US BMX Racer Kyle Bennett Finally Here ***
Beijing, China -- 08/18/2008
BMX bicycle racer Kyle Bennett's moment is finally here
U.S. Olympic BMX team member Kyle Bennett of Conroe,
Texas is looking forward to Wednesday's Olympics debut.
BMX bicycle racing has taken Kyle Bennett all over the world,
so it was nothing special when he climbed aboard a flight for
China last week.
But it was something special when he got here.
"Once that plane landed and I got off and there's some camera
crews," Bennett said, his voice trailing off. "It kind of hit me then.
This is it."
This, after all, is the Olympics, something Bennett and his three U.S.
teammates have been pointing for since the s****t was added to the
Games schedule in the summer of 2003.
"I circled [the date] about a month after they announced it," said
Santa Clarita's Mike Day, winner of the U.S. Olympic trials in June
on a track modeled after the Beijing venue. "That's when I got a
coach. I did a lot of things to make this happen.
"But it never really set in until I got off the plane, got on the bus
and checked into the [athletes] village. It's a bit overwhelming
but super-fun."
BMX makes its Olympics debut Wednesday morning with individual
seeding races for men and women. The 32-rider men's field and the
16-bike women's field will then be cut in half through a series of heat
races with the top finishers moving on to Thursday's final motos.
"I'm ready," said Bennett, the top U.S. rider this season and
a three-time BMX world champion from Conroe, Texas. "The
anticipation's been killing me. I'm just ready to get it on.
"All the training and all that stuff's been done.
Now it's time to ****ne."
None of the U.S. riders -- Napa's Donny Robinson is the third male
rider and Seattle's Jill Kintner is the only American in the women's
field -- have raced in more than two months, but Bennett said
they've stayed sharp with mock competitions on the U.S. Olympic
Committee's Chula Vista track.
Robinson likened the inclusion of BMX to the Summer Games to
the addition of halfpipe, snowboarding and short-track speedskating
to the Winter Games.
"It's going to add some edge and youthfulness," he said
"Hopefully, the people are going to like what they see,"
Bennett added. "This is kind of like our coming-out party."
ACC - http://www.genesbmx.com/2008-bmx-olympics.html
Geneb...Wenatchee,Wa****ngton-USA
All Things Northwest in BMX!
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