Track star … Jaden Rice recently returned to Australia after
By Michael Esposito
THE newest sporting world champion from the western suburbs is just nine years old.
But nine does not seem that young if the champion in question has been competing since he was three.
Yarraville’s Jaden Rice has been riding bikes almost for as long as he could walk, and earlier this month he claimed the world title at the BMX world championships in South Africa, in the 10-year-old boys category.
Rice didn’t just win, he obliterated the competition by 10 bike lengths – quite a winning margin considering the race lasted less than 50 seconds.
The Yarraville West Primary School student was in control of the race after taking what competitors call the “hole shot”, which essentially means taking front position at the first corner.
Rice was challenged by talented French rider Baptiste Viellard, who eventually came second, and attempted to cut inside Rice on the turn but was checked by the Australian who rode out of the turn with three bike lengths on the field, effectively turning the final into a race for silver.
Rice’s father Peter said riding became second nature to his son at an early age.
“He always had great balance, he was walking at nine months, then we got him on this little bike and he started riding it unassisted at two years old,” Peter said,
“We took him to a park, and there happened to be a BMX track there and some people said they have training every Saturday morning, and to bring him down. And that led to him having his first race at three years old.”
This happened while Rice was living with his parents in London. They moved back to Australia when Rice was four.
“His mum Sharon is Jamaican. I think that’s where he has inherited his sprint power from,” Peter said.
In 2008, Rice’s achievements and raw talent resulted in him being the youngest rider invited in to the DRV Fitness racing team, headed by BMX legend Tony Harvey.
At that stage he had just started competing on the world stage. At the world championships in Adelaide last year, Rice came fifth despite riding with a partly jammed brake.
Rice has steadily improved under the guidance of Harvey, and is now under the watchful eyed of selectors looking for future Olympic talent.
Rice is riding in a newly introduced competition called the Dynamite Series, in which the best young riders from each state race against each other during the Australian titles.
The final round of the series will take place in November.
