The 2023 National BMX Freestyle Championships kicks off this weekend, with world champion Kieran Reilly and Olympic champion Charlotte Worthington spearheading a strong line-up of Britain’s best riders at The Asylum Skatepark in Nottingham.

The national championships will be hosted alongside the sixth round of the Backyard Jam BMX Freestyle National Series, and with over 120 riders competing, they will battle for those final points to secure the overall leaders in the elite park, elite street and age categories.

Ones to watch

A strong cohort of Great Britain Cycling Team riders will be contesting the titles, including the current world champion Kieran Reilly, Olympic champion Charlotte Worthington, Olympic bronze medallist Declan Brooks, 2022 national champion Jude Jones, Sasha Pardoe, Holly Pipe, Dylan Hessey and Reef Way.

Reilly has shown his skill as the newly crowned world champion, taking three series wins this season with his ability to pull out the biggest tricks under pressure. Jack Watts has also had a successful season, taking the win in round five in Dumbarton and two third places at Rampworld and Junction4.

Brooks has had particular success at The Asylum before, winning the first round of the series in 2022 with a double backflip and superman front flip in the same run – a first for the Backyard Jam series.

Worthington has also had a positive season, making her return to the world stage at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, and taking the win at the third round of the National Series.

Pardoe sits in second place in the overall series behind Pipe, despite being out of competition due to injury and only having three scoring rounds out of four to date. She has had one of her best seasons yet after making the world championship final in Glasgow. Pardoe has won the three rounds of the series she has attended, and hopes to be crowned the series winner in Nottingham.

Come and watch!

Spectators are welcome to come and watch the contests free of charge, but you had better come early as there is limited space. Competition kicks off at 9:30 on Saturday and Sunday, and will finish at 18:00.

If you also fancy a ride but are not competing, you can purchase a non-competing ticket to be given access to ride areas of the park that are not being used for competition. You can find out more about the event here.

The address is:

Asylum Academy for Extreme Sports

Unit 8

Hamilton Road

Sutton in Ashfield

Notts

NG17 5LD

Saturday schedule

Park

09:00 – Practice: Under-7’s, under-9’s, under-12 girls

09:45 – Under-7’s jam

10:45 – Under-9 and under-12 girls’ competition

11:15 – Under-9 boys’ competition

12:00 – Practice: Elite men group 1

13:00 – Practice: Elite men group 2

14:00 – Elite men park qualifying competition

16:15 – Practice: Elite women park

17:15 – Elite women park qualifying competition

18:00 – Practice: Under-12 boys, under-15 girls and boys

19:15 – Practice: Amateur men park

Street

09:00 – Practice: Under-7’s, under-9’s and under-12 girls

09:45 – Under-7’s jam

10:45 – Practice: Women street and amateur men street

12:00 – Women street competition

12:30 – Amateur men street competition

13:45 – Open

16:15 – Practice: Elite street

18:00 – Elite street competition

20:00 – High hop contest

Sunday schedule

Park

09:00 – Practice: Under-12 boys, under-15 girls and boys

10:00 – Under-12 boys competition

11:00 – Under-15 girls competition

11:30 – Under-15 boys competition

12:30 – Practice: Amateur men park

13:15 – Amateur men park competition

15:15 – Warm up: Elite women park finalists

15:35 – Elite women park finals

16:00 – Warm up: Elite men park finalists

16:45 – Elite men park finals

17:45 – High air contest

Street

09:00 – Open

13:15 – British Cycling coaching/games: Youth and novice riders

15:15 - Open