Gene`s BMX News

[BMX-News]

*** Hayashi Aims To Put Pedal To Metal ***

Phoenix, AZ -- 08/06/2007
The Olympics weren't there for Kim Hayashi at the start
of a wild ride otherwise known as BMX, an acronym for
an extreme sport that would not be around without a basic
bicycle.

It's a different bike. Then again, it's a different Olympics.
BMX, pedal-powered motocross, will be an Olympic
sport for the first time at the 2008 Beijing Games.

With a chance to crash the medals stand,
Hayashi is doing back flips.

"I've been an athlete since I was really little," said Hayashi, 21,
an Arizona State student who was born in Hawaii and grew up
in Chandler. "I always wanted to go to the Olympics. I thought
it would be in basketball or softball or something like that.

"But when I went pro for BMX when I was 15, that Olympic
dream went out the window. Then, BMX was a way to make
money and do something I love.

"About a year later, they said BMX was in the Olympics.
The dream came back. I'm really, really excited."

Hayashi, the 2007 national runner-up, is a leading
contender for the U.S. women's team in Beijing.

USA Cycling announced recently that she will be on an
eight-member team it will send to Beijing for a BMX
Supercross World Cup on Aug. 20-21. It will test Beijing's
readiness for BMX in 2008.

For Hayashi, it is just one more step toward
validation of a sport she has always tried to explain.

"Everybody always pushes it off as not being a real sport,"
she said. "All through high school, people never understood
what I did. I went to Hamilton, which is a big football and
baseball school.

"Hey, I'm out there training every day, all year round.
A lot of those guys don't do that. It was kind of a struggle.
My principal just didn't understand."

But there is universal understanding of the Olympics.
They're a little bit like riding a bike: You never forget.

ACC - http://www.genesbmx.com/2008-bmx-olympics.html