Top form … Wyndham BMX club’s Gary Morgan, left, David Gurkin, right, and Jordan Morgan performed exceptionally at the World BMX Championships last month. 34193 Picture: RAY POLLANEN
By Tim Doutré
FOUR top dozen finishes from three debutants and a veteran on the world stage was more than the Wyndham Warriors BMX club could have hoped for.
Father-son duo Gary and Jordan Morgan, Dave Gurkin and Brendan Tehiko travelled to Adelaide for the World Championships and exceeded all expectations.
Gary, the club’s senior head, in the past raced the World Championships in his homeland of England but had only recently got back into the sport on the coat-tails of his son Jordan.
Dad came home eighth in controversial circumstances while the son shone in his first appearance against the best in the world to finish fourth.
“To make it to the final was a big thing for me as I hadn’t been there before,” he said.
“I was up there (on the starting hill) I thought to myself I probably would have been happy with seventh or better.
“I have been pretty much been training since late last year basically for the final so you think to yourself this is why I did all this.
“I was very nervous as well.”
Jordan said the nerves were high and the heart was racing on the start hill in the final as he rapidly descended.
“It’s a big 8m start hill, so it’s a bit nerve-wracking charging down that hill at 40-50km an hour.
“There were a couple of crashes in my race on the first jump but I came through unscathed.”
Jordan had a tough ride through to the final but performed well under pressure according to his dad.
“Jordan had a fantastic result,” Gary said.
“It was really all down to the draw of the gate – the outside gates are seven and eight.
“He drew gate eight in the quarters and got fourth. In the semis got gate seven and finished fourth which was a very difficult race.” In each race it was fourth or better who went through. For Gary, it was a little more of a smooth run to the final but it was in the big race where things went awry.
“I actually crashed on the last corner and picked my bike up and finished fifth. But after the melee I picked the bike up and jumped on a bit further up from the spot where I fell.”
According to Gary, the rules state that if you crash you must start riding again from where you came off the bike.
“I went to see the manager of the race commission and he had the video to prove it. He was spot on.
“The disappointing thing was the guys were still on the floor where I crashed when I crossed the finish line so I could have gone back and still finished fifth.
“It was too late though I had done the wrong thing.”
It was mixed emotions for Gary after he sped through the qualifiers and won his semi-final heading in but he said he knew the competition was always going to be tough.
“I was under no illusions. When you race against the Columbians, the Americans and the French, they just live the sport, so it’s very difficult.
“The Americans took their own mechanics and physios. The Brazilians had their own manager, it just really opens your eyes.”
Dave Gurkin and Brandon Tehiko were the other two Warriors to make a name for themselves at the Championships, with Gurkin finishing 11th in the 25-29 men and Tehiko 11th in the 12 boys’ cruiser divisions.
