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The iconic indoor Melbourne skatepark, Rampfest will play host to the National Championships again in 2024, with a top line-up outside of Olympic champion Logan Martin, who has opted to skip the event to prepare for an Olympic qualifier.
In the elite women’s category, 16-year-old Sarah Nicki is looking to make it three national championships in a row, but will have some tough competition in three-time national champion Natalya Diehm.
“I’m feeling pretty good, I’ve been training hard and I’m excited to ride the new RampFest set-up,” Nicki said to AusCycling ahead of the event.
“The competition will be tough this year, but it should be fun.
“I’ve been putting lots of work in, on and off the bike and hopefully that will pay off in Melbourne.”
Nicki is coming off a big year with the ARA Australian Cycling team, which included competing at the World Championships in Glasgow where she finished 15th overall.
“It has been a good 12 months for me. I’ve ticked off a lot of goals, had some amazing experiences and have been learning a lot from the rest of the team and the support staff,” she said.
“Overseas events have taught me how to plan a run with minimal time on the course, how to effectively use my practice time and some strategies for dealing with competition nerves.”
Diehm, ranked world No. 10, also had a positive 2023 after returning from injury, just missing out on the podium at the World Cup in Bazhong, China where she finished 4th.
Despite Martin and last year’s silver medallist Jaie Toohey both sitting out the national champs, there will be some big names gunning for the elite men’s national title.
2019 World Champion and two-time national champion Brandon Loupos is one to watch as is Alec Danelutti, hungry for his first maiden national title.
Danelutti finished third at the Oceania Continental championships and fifth at the national championships in 2023, which he said has stoked the fire in his belly to go better this year.
“I am keen to get out there and ride the best I can, putting it on the line for the National Title. A win at this event would be an awesome achievement for me,” Danelutti said to AusCycling.
After having a few weeks off with pneumonia at the end of last year, Danelutti is now fit and healthy, and ready to rip it at his old stomping ground RampFest.
“I’ve been feeling really good on the bike lately and am just having a ball riding, so it is going to be a really fun event. The new setup down at RampFest is super fun too, so it will be awesome to have a contest on the brand-new ramps.”
How to watch the 2024 BMX Freestyle National Championships on SBS On Demand
Sunday, February 11
12.00pm - 5.00pm AEDT
Livestreaming via SBS On Demand
