Werribee father and son Gary and Jordan Morgan recently placed second and fifth in their age groups at the UCI BMX World Championships. 69725 Picture: JOE MASTROIANNI
By Alesha Capone
DYNAMIC father-and-son duo Gary and Jordan Morgan spent eight months training for the UCI BMX World Championships, and their dedication has paid off.
At the Copenhagen event, Jordan came second in his age class and his dad finished fifth in the 45+ cruiser category.
Gary and his 21-year-old son are both members of the Wyndham Warriors BMX club and trained for an hour every day in the lead-up to the world event.
“We did a lot of gym work early this year, with all the wet weather, the track was a mess,” Gary said.
With help from his wife Denise and daughters Leanne and Amanda, a keen Motocross rider, the family and club members fundraised to fix the Wyndham BMX track after this year’s severe floods.
While Jordan took up BMX racing about a decade ago, his father took up the extreme sport when he was growing up in Britain.
“It’s a hell of a lot harder than it looks, we make it look easier than it is, it’s 10 years of hard work,” Jordan said.
“You’ve got to be pretty smart and think about what you’re doing. When you’re going into a corner, there are seven riders and it’s different every time.”
The young BMX rider said when competitors raced their bikes, they could reach up to 50km per hour.
He has even broken his back, toes and fingers, but his dad said this was “pretty good” for a decade of riding.
“There wouldn’t be many sports in Werribee, where you can be members of a sports club and then go and be in the world championships,” Gary said.
In 2009, Jordan and Garyz competed in the BMX World Championships in Adelaide, placing fourth and eighth respectively.
Although they improved their results this year, at next year’s event they hope to do even better. “Next year in May we’re going to England and we’re looking for sponsorship,” Jordan said.
See www.wwbmxclub.com.au for more information about the Wyndham Warriors.
