Australia’s Logan Martin and Natalya Diehm have claimed the inaugural Oceania BMX Freestyle titles in Melbourne, Saturday 7 December.

The closely contested men’s competition saw three riders go head to head after a closely contested qualifying, with the top three separated by less than a point. Jake Wallwork (Australia) lead the way on 90.8 points narrowly ahead of Martin on 90.67 with world champion Brandon Loupos (Australia) third on 90.2.

All three brought their A game in the final with Martin proving why he was the first UCI BMX Freestyle World Champion in 2017 to now add the honour of being the first Oceania Champion.

After an impressive first run in the final Martin went all out in his second to secure the gold, including tricks like the 1080, flip double whip, 540-flair and 360 tail whip transfer.

“The contest was amazing today – the course at Rampfest is super fast – with lots of airs. You get gassed out really quickly so I’m stoked to take the win,” said Martin.

“Everyone’s riding was awesome – it was really close all the way to the end – I definitely wasn’t sure I’d done enough until my name was called out,” he added.

Reigning World Champion Loupos shot to the gold medal position with a score of 93 from his opening run in the final, though realising the strong competition he upped his game attempting to seal the win in his second.

In his second he stepped up his game, before a heavy crash inside the final 15 seconds damaged his bike, causing him wave off the rest of the run and settle for silver.

“I’m really happy with my result today – Logan’s run was amazing and I’m not disappointed with 2nd at all. I’m stoked that we got the points today for Tokyo Qualifying – it was a good day for the Aussie team, hopefully we can take that top spot back from the USA. Now I’m looking forward to Nationals next week in QLD,” said Loupos.

After qualifying first Wallwork went big in the final looking to secure the title on his home track. A crash in his opening run put the pressure on for his final. Wallwork put down a no-handed front flip, a barspin flail (Front Flair), and finished with a huge transfer across a 20 foot section of the course that no one else even looked at to complete the podium.

“I’m pumped I landed my run, I’ve been eyeing up that transfer for a while, I’m glad I could put it all together and take home another podium at my home park,” he said.

The inaugural women’s crown went to world number nine Natalya Diehm, seeing Australia dominate the inaugural Oceania Championships, as they look to secure the top spot in the men’s qualifying ranking for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

2019 Oceania BMX Freestyle Championships medallists
Men
Gold Logan Martin (Australia)
Silver Brandon Loupos (Australia)
Bronze Jake Wallwork (Australia)

Women
Gold Natalya Diehm (Australia)