Boy, 9, hoping for BMX title at World Championship

A nine-year-old boy is planning a trip to Australia in July, to take on the best BMX riders in the world.

Archie Fisher from Warwick will be racing for Great Britain at the UCI BMX Racing World Championships in Brisbane, in the under-12s category, as he targets the Olympics in the future.

His parents, Ben and Sarah, have started a fundraising campaign to help pay for the Australia trip, which comes just four years after he first started riding a BMX.

"We're not a BMX family at all, but when he was very small, we couldn't get him off his balance bike," his dad said. "[We] discovered the Redditch Premiers BMX Club and he absolutely got the bug."

Archie has already claimed nine gold medals in local and national competitions, as well as numerous club titles.

However, that has not stopped his parents having nervous moments watching him race.

"He's just so confident on the track, and whenever he falls off the bike he gets back up - he bounces. He very quickly lets us know whether it's a serious crash or not," his father said.

"When it's a final, that's always a heart-in-the-mouth moment, because you know he's so emotionally invested in it and he's going to push himself as hard as he possibly can."

Archie's drive to succeed has seen him selected for the Great Britain under-12 team for the competition at the Sleeman Sports Complex, just outside Brisbane city centre.

He will also be representing his local club, Redditch Premier BMX, and his team, Crucial Elite Racing.

Ben, a BAFTA-award winning game designer, said he could see from a very young age that cycling was going to be Archie's passion.

He said: "When we were teaching him to ride, we found a grassy hill for him to roll down, try and learn to pedal. And he started but then fell off.

"He immediately stood up and said 'I need a bigger hill'."

Ben credits the Redditch Premier coach and double World BMX champion Scott Beaumont for spotting and encouraging Archie's talent, which could eventually see the nine-year-old represent Team GB at an Olympic Games.

"It's going to be in about 10 years time... he's already planning ahead as far as he possibly can." his dad said.

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