How Team GB’s BMX star got his career off the ground

Kieran, 22, said, “When I was a kid it was all about riding around on your bike, that’s all we did. You’d ride to your friend's house, knock on his door and see if he was in.

“Then we started seeing all these older kids doing tricks in the skatepark, so the bikes for Christmas turned into BMXs and I just fell in love with it straight away.”

Having acquired his first proper BMX bike at the age of 8, Kieran began spending “morning, noon and night” refining two-wheeled tricks in the skatepark. His parents, who worried initially about the effect his obsession would have on school work, gradually came to appreciate his talent and commitment.

He said, “They [his parents] saw the effort I put in and were so supportive, driving me up and down the country for all these amateur competitions. I started to love competing and it just spiralled out of control.”

Kieran was 11 when he took part in his first competition, the Urban Games in Whitley Bay. He did carpentry for three years after leaving school, but nothing captured his imagination like being in (and out of) the saddle of a BMX bike.

He said, “It’s always been a hobby to me, but now I can do this full-time, thanks to The National Lottery. I pretty much feel like every day I’m living the dream. It’s far from work for me. Going to the skate park and putting in the work, it’s all a good time.”

Now he’s a full-time BMX freestyle athlete and a favourite for gold at Paris 2024. He’s already earned his place in the history books, becoming the first rider to perform the much-vaunted triple flair trick.

Not that it came easy. Kieran said, “I couldn’t get off the start ramp, there was just this overwhelming fear. It wasn’t until 8pm on the last day of shooting that I managed to get it done and got this overwhelming sense of relief; the biggest adrenaline rush I’ve ever had and the only time I’ve ever cried happy tears.”

One of the athletes standing in his way in Paris is Logan Martin. The Australian rider won the inaugural Olympic title and has five X Games crowns to his name.

But Kieran has Andy Murray’s sports psychologist, Rich Hampson, on his side, as well as a lucky haircut. The way Kieran tells it, his mullet was acquired by accident, but it’s become his trademark and something of a lucky charm. Having won the Euros and the Worlds with it, he’s determined to keep it at least until the end of Paris 2024.

Since The National Lottery began funding elite athletes in 1997, British cyclists have won 81 Olympic and Paralympic gold medals. Kieran is determined to add to that number in the French capital this summer.

He said, “I’m pretty set on gold. The Olympics is an event where you don’t often remember someone who got fourth place.”

26th July 2024