Cycling BMX Freestyle

BMX racing began in California in the 1960s, when teenagers wanted to imitate their idols in motocross. Initially, racing on BMX bikes was the main competition. However, BMX freestyle, often called stunt riding, quickly developed as a separate discipline.

The American Freestyle Association (AFA) was the first governing body for BMX freestyle, founded by Bob Morales in 1982. From 1980 until 1987, freestyle BMX increased in popularity to a peak in 1987. Freestyle riding was originally not governed by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), but it eventually became the governing body for this Olympic discipline.

BMX freestyle consists of five disciplines: park, flatland, street, trails, and vert. In June 2017, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that BMX freestyle park was to be added as an Olympic event for men and women at Tokyo 2020. Until this announcement, the most important competition for BMX freestyle had occurred at the X Games.

As of 2024, after two appearances in the programme, the discipline is led by Great Britain, with a full set of medals, followed by Australia, but no freestyle cyclist has yet won more than one medal at the Olympic Games.

A mixed BMX freestyle event was also contested at the third edition of the Youth Summer Olympics, at Buenos Aires 2018.

As aforementioned, BMX freestyle cycling is currently governed by the UCI, which was founded on 14 April 1900, in Paris, France, with five founding members: Belgium, France, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States. The UCI was established as an alternative to the International Cycling Association (ICA), which had been set up in 1892. In 1965, the IOC required the UCI to split into an amateur and a professional organization, resulting in the creation of the Fédération Internationale Amateur de Cyclisme (FIAC) and the Fédération Internationale de Cyclisme Professionnel (FICP), respectively. In 1992, the FIAC and FICP rejoined within the UCI. As of January 2026, the UCI has 206 member national federations and four associate members.