• Home
• | Terms & conditions
• | Contact us
• | RSS

Siblings aim high at BMX World Champs

1 July 2010

When the UCI BMX World Championships get under way in Pietermaritzburg at the end of July, there will be few prouder fans in the stands than Sydney Webster, who will be watching his two sons take to the track in national colours against the best schoolboy BMX riders in the world.

Liam (12) and Axel (10) Webster are both recognised as exciting prospects. They are fresh off a four-and-a-half week European training and racing experience, and are chomping at the bit to show everyone what they have learnt.

Both Axel and Liam were introduced to the sport by their father, a former World Championships competitor himself, and instantly fell in love with it.

'So much fun'

Liam cites "it's just so much fun" and Axel "the adrenalin rush" as the main reasons for them longing to get back on the track each day, and although very young, both boys have dreams of great things for themselves in their future on the BMX front.

Axel's focus at the moment is primarily on the task at hand, the imminent World Championships, while Liam is looking a little further ahead and hopes to head to Europe in the next couple of years to see how far his talent can take him.

While sitting on the starting line many competitors experience all kinds of nerves, not these two little stars though. "All I crave is that winning feeling," said Alex Webster.

'Nothing more I can do'

His father is equally confident in his two sons' abilities. "There's nothing more I can do for them at that stage," he said. "All I can do is hope that they remember all they have been taught."

When asked about where he hopes his sons' BMX careers might head, his response was one of endless opportunities and full support. "I leave it up to them, if they want to take things further they will make the effort," he said.

As a proud dad, Sydney is also aware of the demands of his sons' recent training tour abroad. "It was absolutely awesome, tough, very tough, but it really was fantastic," he said.

European training

Having spent most of their time training in Germany the boys then had the incredible experience of competing in two European BMX events which Liam described as "very bunched and very aggressive", but an extremely valuable experience.

Giving back to his sport of choice appears to be of great importance for Sydney who conducts weekly beginner's lessons at Giba Gorge.

"Unfortunately it's sometimes difficult for some children to take up the sport as they don't have bikes of their own," said Sydney. "What we often do is take down our old bikes for some of the boys' friends and try introduce them that way."

The UCI BMX World Championships takes place at the Royal Showgrounds in Pietermaritzburg from 29 July to 1 August.

SAinfo reporter