Sam Willoughby

The meteoric rise of current BMX World Champion Sam Willoughby to the pinnacle of the BMX world has been as fast as he rides.

In 2008 at the age of 17, Willoughby took out his first Junior World Title in China.  The year also saw Willoughby record wins in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, all while completing his year 12 studies.

In 2009 Willoughby returned to Adelaide to defend his title in front of his home crowd. He did not disappoint and in doing so became the first rider in the sports history to win back-to-back Junior World Titles.  In fact, Willoughby is the only rider ever to win two titles in the junior division.

Four months on, Willoughby would again create history by accruing the most points across the Elite Men’s season.  Willoughby stunned the BMX world by beating a field including Olympic Champion Maris Strombergs in his first year as an elite rider. His April 2011 return to Australia proved not to disappoint with Willoughby winning the BMX Australia National Championship Finals, his first elite crown. His good form throughout the 2011 season has
helped lift Australia to the highest ranked BMX nation in the world.

However, the highlight of Sam’s career to date played itself out in Birmingham in May 2012, where Sam took out the 2012 World Championships just 2 months from the Olympic Games. Fulfilling a lifelong dream, Sam lead from start to finish, and sent a warning out to his competitors that he will be the one to beat at the 2012 London Olympics in August.

U.S. based, South Australian born, Willoughby has his sights firmly set on London 2012 and with results such as these, Willoughby looks set to remain at the top of BMX racing for many years to come.